When Naruto arrived at the training grounds, his senses went into immediate alert as his students were nowhere to be seen and there was no animal sounds anywhere near the clearing. A single hand sign and a puff of smoke later, Naruto jumped into a nearby tree, and his clone walked into the open, along with walking right into the trap his three genin had set. Five minutes later, his clone was hogtied, tarred and feathered, painted hot pink, and hanging from a tree looking like a piƱata, while the three who had set it looked up at him. "That will teach him for messing with our missions."
"Teach who?" They all spun around to find Naruto leaning against the tree trunk he had been hidden in. Their mouths fell open and their gaze quickly went from him to the tree, only to find that the ropes were empty, and the feathers were on the ground beneath them. The blond clapped his hands together, effectively bring their attention back to him. "Well, let's get started shall we?" He got a nod from each of the genin as they gave him their undivided attention. "Since you all knew the tree-climbing exercise before becoming genin, and got water-walking down over the past week, I think it's time to teach you something a bit different. I'm going to teach you each a different jutsu, then when your use of it is at my standards, which I will tell you after I go through it with you, I'll teach you one of the other two. When you all know all three, I'll teach you more." With another hand sign, three more Narutos stood before them. "These three will be the ones teaching you, as I have to go see about getting you guys a mission. After today, so long as I don't have something that absolutely needs my attention, I'll be switching between you while the others have my clones to help them if they need it, at least till you all know these three, then I'll be training you all together."
Takai had a confused expression on his face. "Then why not just do that now, wouldn't it be easier to teach the same jutsu to all of us at the same time?"
"No, and I'll tell you why, each of you will learn at a different rate. One of you could learn a jutsu in a few days, while it could take the other two a month, but then the second jutsu the one who learned so quick the first time could have a hard time learning it like one of the others, while the third learns it with ease. By teaching you separately, you can learn at your own pace without having to feel like you're being left behind simply because it's hard for you to grasp. Each of you should have no problem with at least one of the first three as they are the more common chakra affinities of Konoha. The last two will be taught to you together because while the feeling of being left behind isn't a pleasant thing, it's a good motivator to push yourselves past your limits and you'll become stronger for it. This will tell me which method is more effective for you three, understand?" The three genin nodded seeing the logic in his reasoning. "Good, that being said, it doesn't mean you can't talk about how far you've gotten with your training, but I will not stand for bragging. I encourage that you talk about what you've learned, that way if one of you is having a problem with the jutsu, one who has already learned it may be able to help them out. Now off you go." He turned to the clones. "Remember, five o'clock." The clones rolled their eyes, but nodded anyway before Naruto disappeared in a mini tornado.
He reappeared in front of Tsunade's desk and was surprised to find her awake with a cup of tea in her hand and her desk clear of any paperwork. He put his hand together in the Ohitsuji seal. "Kai." Nothing happened so he tried again and a tick mark appeared on Tsunade's forehead as he continued to try.
"Knock it off brat! What do you want anyway, shouldn't you be out training your team?"
"I was wondering if I could get a higher rank mission for them to get them off my back."
"Why should I, it's your own fault."
"They tried to tar and feather me this morning and end up getting a clone. I really need you to do this for me Kaa-san, it can be anything, even a low class C-rank."
Tsunade fell quiet for a few moments thinking over and then a smile came to her face. "Actually, I think I have the perfect thing, a B-rank to Yuki no Kuni."
"I know I said anything Kaa-san, but don't you think that's a bit much, they have only been a team for a week after all."
"Well it would be D-rank if it wasn't outside the village." Tsunade sighed. "And if Jiraiya wasn't so paranoid someone was going to steal the script, it'd be C-rank."
Naruto's eyes widened. "The new Icha Icha movie?"
Tsunade groaned. "He really did corrupt you."
"Now Kaa-san, I know you've watched the first one at least once, can you honestly tell me you didn't enjoy it?"
Again she sighed. "I'll admit it wasn't just sex scenes, and it had a good storyline, considering that old pervert wrote it." She became excited and looked to be ready to bounce up and down in her seat. "I heard this one's supposed to be the best thing to come from the Icha Icha franchise yet." Naruto started to scratch his cheek sheepishly and her eyes widened. "You didn't."
"He asked me to, said if I could write a better book than him, then a movie written by me was a guaranteed success. How could I say no after that?"
"Hmm, maybe I'll have to take the pervert up on his offer to go to the premier with him. Anyway, back to the mission, since you're headed to Yuki anyway, I'm going to have your team escort Koyuki-hime to Oni no Kuni for a trade agreement with Shion-nisou." The older blond noticed a small flinch in the form of his hand twitching at the nisou's name, but didn't say anything about it already knowing. "After the talks, escort Koyuki-hime home and return, a simple C-rank escort mission with possibility of kidnapping, and being mobbed by fans, so try not to kill anyone. I'm unsure how long you'll be gone, so make sure your team is packed appropriately. Come by tomorrow morning to pick up the scroll for Koyuki-hime."
"Will do, thanks Kaa-san." He left the office through the window and headed back to Training Ground Seven. He sat in front of the Memorial stone and let his eyes wandered across the names engraved into it, before finally resting on that of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. As he stared at the name, he remembered the death of Kakashi, the only one he had witnessed.
Flashback:
Itachi laid unmoving in a pile of ruble that had been a wall with blood running from his eyes and panting heavily, while Kakashi laid on the ground, his eyes darting around frantically while Naruto run over to him tears running down his whiskered cheeks. When Kakashi's eyes landed on the blond, they filled up with tears and shown with fear. "Minato-sensei? Please sensei, I'm sorry I failed to protect your son! I tried to for you and Kushina, but I couldn't save Naruto from them, please forgive me!"
Naruto knelt, shocked, next to his one time sensei. He quickly snapped out of it and started to lift him up. "Come on sensei, we need to get you back to Konoha so you can get treatment, then you can tell me all about my parents, that will more than make up for anything you think you've done wrong." Just as he finally got Kakashi to his feet, a kunai came soaring through the air, headed for Naruto. Due to the added weight of his sensei, Naruto was unable to move in time to dodge it. In what seemed like slow motion, Naruto watched as the silver haired Cyclops pushed him out of the way and the kunai slice through the jugular vein resulting in a spray of blood that covered Naruto's face and chest. He stared with wide, horror filled eyes as Kakashi's body fell to the ground.
'It seems my eye sight has faded far too much for use without my Sharingan, but none the less my intended target is dead.' (Not from Naruto's POV, so I can have Itachi's thoughts in it. :P )"A fitting end to the tale of Sharingan Kakashi. Dying to protect his comrade, just like he's always preached." Naruto's eyes filled with hate as they flashed directly to blood red and the pupil narrowed into slits. He turned on the Uchiha and red chakra begin to bubble out of him, covering him in the shroud that looked like a one tailed fox. By the time he turned fully around, the second and third tails were already thrashing about angrily, and the fourth was half way formed. His eyes no longer had pupils or irises, instead they were pure red with a bright glow to them. "As much as I'm sure you'd like to continue this, I'm afraid we must do it another day, so for now I must take my leave." A red chakra claw shot out in an attempt to stop him, but what he hit scattered into the forms of ravens, and Naruto yelled to the heavens, releasing a shock wave that made the remnants of the buildings around him tremble. He remained still until the last of the shroud receded back into the seal, before scooping up Kakashi's body and going to look for Gai, unaware the spandex-clad jonin had also met an untimely end.
Flashback End:
Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his clones dispel themselves near the posts. From their memories, he learned that although his students were all having trouble with their jutsu, Takai and Kisei were having an easier time learning their jutsu, Katon: Endan and Suiton: Mizurappa respectively, than Motooru was with hers, Doton: Doryuu Jouheki. He turned around to find that his students were exhausted. "You all did great today, we'll continue working on your jutsu next time, but tomorrow, we leave on a mission, two actually. First we're taking a scroll to Yuki no Kuni, and then we're escort a friend of mine from there to Oni no kuni and back, so say your goodbyes, get a good night's rest, and pack for an extended mission because there's no telling how long we'll be gone."
All three were stunned, but two looked excited as well while the third was hesitant. "C-ranks? Are you sure we're ready sensei, we've only been a team for a short time."
"Actually, the first mission is considered B-rank, but only because the client is paying for it as such. At most we'll run into a few wandering bandits looking for some easy prey to rob, and even if we do run into something worse, I won't let them harm any of you, I promise. So, if there's nothing else, meet at the main gate, at eight tomorrow morning."
"Actually sensei, Kaa-san asked to bring the whole team to dinner, she wants to hear how trainings going, and to get to know Kisei."
Naruto smiled. "Well you know I can't say no to Kurenai's cooking, how about you Kisei, think you can come?"
"Yes, I sure Hiashi-sama and Kaa-san will understand."
Naruto turned to Motooru and Takai. "Okay, why don't you two go on ahead, I need to talk to Kisei about something in private." The two nodded and took off into the trees. Naruto waited till he felt their chakra signatures were far enough away before turning to Kisei. "There are a couple things I'd like to ask you, if you don't want to tell me, or don't feel comfortable talking about something, just tell me and we won't talk about it. Okay?" The Hyuga nodded. "Okay, first my clone noticed that you don't have the Caged Bird Seal on your forehead, but the file I have on you says you are of the Branch family, so why don't you?"
"Hinata-sama is married into the Inuzuka clan, so she's not able to lead the Hyuga clan, and Hanabi-sama is likely to marry into the Sarutobi clan, if she does, she won't be able to either. So when Hinata-sama married, Hiashi-sama decided that should Hanabi-sama marry outside the clan as well, Neji-sama would become the Clan Head, and all three of them sought to abolish the seal, so I was one of the first to have not been given the seal, however they haven't found a way to safely remove it after it's applied."
Naruto nodded. "Alright. Second, my clone also noticed that you had no problem understanding when it explained how to do the jutsu, so why were you the dead last of you class?"
"I wanted to be on Motooru's team, but I didn't want her to think I was weak, so I only did well in the practical areas."
"So instead of thinking you're weak, they think you're dumb. Not the best way to win over a girl, but at least your classmates will underestimate you should you have to face them, though as time goes on you'll lose that advantage as well. While we're talking about her, if I told you that she was dating someone else, what would you do?"
"I'd find out who he is and kick his ass to prove to her that he isn't good enough for her."
"And there's the problem. You don't care whether or not she's happy, only that she'd be with you."
The Hyuga glared. "She'd be happy with me!"
"You can't prove that, and what if she's happy with the other guy? You kick his ass, and she'll hate you for it, effectively destroying any chance you have."
Kisei's anger became a sullen look and he looked towards the ground. "What if she's not happy?"
"Then she'll leave him, and should he try to stop her from doing so, you, me, Takai, and at least two others would be fighting over who got the bastard first." He smiled widely at his white haired student who took on a very Hyuga-like smirk. "Okay, last question and then we go catch up to the others, why's your hair white instead of the normal Hyuga black?" Kisei's smirk quickly disappeared and he looked away. "It's okay Kisei, we won't talk about it if you don't want to."
Naruto started to walk the way Takai and Motooru went, but was stopped by his third student's voice. "My Tou-san, if he should even be called that, wasn't a Hyuga, hell he wasn't even a Konoha citizen. Kaa-san was on border patrol near Kawa no Kuni, no one knows how, but he snuck up behind her and knocked her out. When she woke up, he had her bound and gagged. She was held captive for three days with him raping her twice a day at least. When she didn't check in with her team, the others started looking, it took two days to find them, and the bastard managed to escape. Kaa-san resigned her status as a kunoichi almost immediately afterwards. She wasn't exactly thrilled that I wanted to become a shinobi, and probably wouldn't have let me if I wasn't so good at Juken. Not as good as Neji-sama at my age, but it's to be expected since he's the most talented Hyuga in five generations, but I'm going to be better."
Naruto couldn't help but smile when he said that. "That's the goal to work towards, and even if you don't accomplish it, as long as you tried your best, no one will think less of you. Now come on, before they decide to start without us." With that, both student and teacher took off after the rest of their team.
Naruto lead Kisei to Kurenai's house located no more than four blocks from the south end of the Market district and knocked on the door. When it opened, they were greeted by the sight of a woman smiling brightly at them with messy black hair, crimson eyes, wearing a white dress with red roses decorating the hemline. "There you are Naruto, it's been so long since you've been here, I was starting to think you didn't like being around us." As she said this she gave a mock pout.
"Me? Never, you guys are family, I just been busy with missions, at least till I took on a team."
Kurenai turned to the boy next to him. "You must be Kisei." The boy nodded, seemingly unable to form words. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Did you know I was the Jonin sensei for Hinata's genin team?" When the boy shook his head no, she lead him inside telling him about some of the missions her team took in their genin days, leaving Naruto to close the door. When they sat down for dinner, Kurenai looked across the table at Naruto. "So Naruto, Takai tells me you've got them back-to-back missions, a B-rank and a C-rank."
"They would both be considered C-rank, but the client is paranoid someone will try and steal the scroll. And the second is a simple escort mission, Koyuki-Hime needs to go to Oni no Kuni to negotiate a trade agreement."
He sighed inwardly when he saw Kurenai open her mouth, but Kesei spoke up first. "You're friends with The Koyuki-hime? Do you think she'll give me an autograph? How did you become friends?"
"My team and I were hired to escort her to Yuki no Kuni before we learned she was actually the princess. Being who I am, I was too stubborn to give up when I faced her uncle, who was trying to kill her to take over the country, and got her to believe in something again. And I suppose she might, so long as you don't act like an obsessed fan boy when you ask."
"Are you planning to go see her?"
Naruto sighed inwardly again and the three children looked confused. "Doesn't matter either way, since she's the one Koyuki-hime will be speaking with." After dinner, Naruto and Kesei said their goodbyes, and after reminding two of his students to get a good night's sleep, he walked Kesei back to the Hyuga compound. As they reached the gate, Naruto noticed Neji walking up and waved. "Hi Neji."
Kesei alsonoticed and bowed. "Good evening Neji-sama."
"Good evening to you both as well. Naruto, I've been meaning to find you, I'm curious as to how your team is progressing."
"Really well, they gotten water walking down, they're each learning a new technique, and Okaa-san's letting them take on two low C-rank missions." Neji raised an eyebrow.
"Really, are you sure that's wise?"
"Well, the only real problem with teamwork in the beginning was that the other two were somewhat willing to work with Kesei here, but he didn't want to work with Takai. They've gotten much better since then though. How about yours?"
"They work together fine, but I think I'll wait a bit longer before attempting a C-rank. I bid you both good night."
"Kesei bowed again. "Good night to you as well Neji-sama."
"Well I'm going to head home too, night Kesei, and remember to pack for an extended mission."
"I will sensei, good night."
The next morning Naruto waited for his team at the gate after getting the scroll from Jiraiya in Tsunade's office, and visiting the Memorial stone. As his students approached, he took out three medium sized scrolls. The three of them stopped right in front of him. "Take everything out of your packs, but keep your stuff separate." When they did, he looked it over, and smiled. "Very good all of you, now from these piles, take out anything you want on hand." When they did, he held up the scrolls. "Now these, as I'm sure you know are storage scrolls, you seal objects into them. What you probably don't know is how to use them." He waited a moment and they all shook their heads negative. "That's alright, for now, I'll seal they items still in the pile into one of these for each of you, and then while we're on the boat, which should be about a day and a half, I'll show you how to use them, so that in the future, you'll be able to seal your stuff yourself and lessen the weight you have to carry." When he finished, Team Seven headed out for the town where the boat would be waiting.
