Dinner was a curious affair, in that the younger students had to basically remind their elders how to eat properly for the first part. And then they needed to explain the deal with their teachers. "So... the one that flirted with me in the woods..." Tenten asked curiously while playing with her wonton soup.
"Anko-sensei." the three younger ones answered in resigned unison, each one bearing a look of resignation born of weeks of knowing her.
"And the one I haven't met yet? Kurenai-sensei?" Tenten continued with barely missing a beat. "Is she like Anko?"
"No... she... she is m...much c...calmer..." Hinata stated nervously, as the only one without something in her mouth, almost as though afraid of the woman popping out at any moment. Shikamaru and Naruto both seemed to be on the lookout for something that she couldn't quite figure out.
"Pardon, but why do you seem to be on the lookout for her?" Lee asked curiously while looking around for the source of the younger academy student's discomfort. He couldn't discern the source, but he figured it had to be close for them to be reacting in such a manner.
"As troublesome as it sounds, she has a way to pop up at the wrong moment, and with us talking of Anko flirting..." Shikamaru started with a heavy sigh, before taking a sip of his tea.
"I'm likely to pop up right behind you at any moment, aren't I?" a strange woman with black hair, red eyes, and a dress seemingly made out of wraps turned around in the seat directly behind Shikamaru. The three students that knew her sat bolt upright, and let out little whimpers of terror. "Now... what was this about Anko flirting with someone here..."
As Tenten found the red eyes locking on her, she calmly figured out what she thought of as the best solution. Well calm for one that swore she felt her life pass before her eyes. She reached over the table, pulled the still petrified Naruto across the piece of furniture and used him as a human shield. "ASK HIM! HE KNOWS I DIDN'T FLIRT BACK!"
Naruto nodded rapidly in agreement, as though afraid that if he didn't one or the other of the women would shred him to pieces. Shikamaru and Hinata both left money on the table before deciding to exit from view the fastest way they knew. Sliding down onto the ground under the table, they pulled the somewhat confused Lee under the table with them.
"Oh? So he was with you when Anko was being flirty, hmm? That's good to know..." Kurenai responded with a slight growl to her voice. Naruto felt tears rolling down his cheeks as he knew that he was going to be in trouble now. He was very glad that he had his will made out at the request of the Hokage, so his ramen cup collection would go to a worthy person.
Kurenai gave her a small smile, before standing up and walking out of the restaurant. Naruto looked at the exit, and then back at Tenten before smiling sheepishly. "Ano... Tenten-senpai... would you like me to get out of your soup?"
A quick release, and exchange of apologies later, the quint of shinobi-in-training went to go and get Naruto a change of clothing. It was a simple matter of piling everyone into the living room/kitchen, and Naruto disappearing into the back to change pants. Unfortunately there were a few issues with the changing of said clothes.
First was the fact that he was out of clean jumpsuits, so he had to dig under his bed until he found a box he kept the clothes he got from Iruka and the Hokage on his birthdays. For some reason that was all he got for the last few years, but his jumpsuit fit him best, and he had more of them than anything else.
While he was tugging out the box with his non-jumpsuit clothes in, the second part occurred. The corner of the box, struck a bo-staff he had picked up for training with, which in turn knocked over a tumbler of marbles he'd forgotten about long ago, that in turn upset a resident living ramen entity that had evolved under his bed from a cup of ramen that he had left unfinished, that in turn threw the first thing that it could reach at the intruder. Naruto ducked aside as the box of orbs flew past his head, instantly regretting it as it passed through the open doorway and smashed into the far wall.
Luckily the lid only popped off a little bit, and none of the symbiotic orbs fell out.
Unfortunately for the young knights, Tenten and Lee were just wandering to the door to ask for the location of the restroom and decided to peek inside the box. A moment later, thoughts of the restroom were forgotten as two orbs practically leaped out of the box and latched onto the two curious pre-gennin.
Lee's transformation was the first to occur, a swirl of yellow and black burst forth from the orb, coating the entire body of the surprised taijutsu specialist. As fast as the orb was, Lee seemed to manage to stay ahead of it for a few seconds, before he backed into the wall, and it snared his arm. The black parts of the orb formed spots across his body, while the yellow turned into course short fur. Feline ears with black lining grew at the top of Lee's head, while twin trails from his eyes ran down along his newly formed muzzle. The body that resulted from the bonding was one made for speed. "Pardreportingfordutyma'am!"
Tenten's transformation was a bit more interesting to watch, as it lashed out with silver chains of itself to surround the startled weapons mistress in training. Two chains snared her wrists, while another pair looped around her ankles, and a final one looped lazily about her throat. As it pulled the chains back into itself, the orb began to expand swiftly, engulfing the woman. The silver soon coated the entire form of Tenten, giving her a shiny and curvy form that left the males present a bit speechless and blushing. Over her entire body was a series of chains and minor spikes. It seemed to pause a moment, before sighing and letting a golden vest and shorts surface from its depths, granting some modesty. Shortly after they solidified fully, she turned towards Naruto and bowed deeply.
"My lady Kyuukon," a ringing metallic voice rasped out softly as she gathered the chains about her, forming a shawl with their doubled lengths. "I, Zahava, am ready to serve you once again."
Naruto sighed as Kyukon took over his form once again, submitting to the ritual of greeting that had been established. Meanwhile, Hinata and Shikamaru attempted to work out what exactly they were going to say to their teachers and the Hokage about this.
"Welcome knights..." Kyuukon answered after she appeared, smiling warmly at the new arrivals. "Please recede back into your dormant states... our hosts have much to discuss... But first Zahava... if you wouldn't mind capturing the creature under my host's bed?"
While Zahava sent forth strands of liquid metal, under the bed. Pard reverted to Lee, who blinked owlishly. "That... was most unusual..."
"Yeah, that's nothing compared to what's next..." Naruto stated while joining Hinata and Shikamaru in the living room. Absently he noticed that his pants were now dry, and filed that away for future reference.
Shikamaru sighed and leaned against the wall, while rubbing his face in annoyance. "As troublesome as it is... we need to tell the Hokage and our teachers..." the genius stated before Tenten came in holding a cage of some strange metal he couldn't identify with a thrashing ramen beast inside. "And probably about that thing too..."
"Mind if I skip out on this one?" Naruto asked pleadingly, while looking like someone has just threatened to cut off his ramen supply for a few years. The looks from the other two established knights answered his question rather bluntly, before Hinata turned away with a huge blush on her cheeks.
"I... I think that w...we m...might w...want to g...go as a g...group..." Hinata stuttered out while trying to quell the blush on her cheeks. "I...It w...would be... easier..."
"Before that... What is going on?" Tenten asked calmly while setting the cage down and toying with her new jelly bracer. "What are these things? And how did they come out of those balls? And why am I now hearing a voice in my head?"
"They're orb knights. Not sure on that. And you get used to them..." Naruto answered in turn, while Shikamaru and Hinata simply nodded in support. "They'll tell you more, so be sure to listen."
"Right..." Tenten responded as though forcing herself to not completely freak out. By the twitching of her hand near the kunai pouch, it would appear to be failing.
"My partner Pard... he is rather... Energetic..." Lee mused with a mystified look to his face.
"From what Shiroshika tells me... he is somewhat on a permanent sugar high... Sounds troublesome..." Shikarmaru answered from his spot against a wall. "Especially with you two graduating this year... means your third teammate will either have to be told and tested, or you will have to keep it a secret from them..."
"And how do you figure we'll be on the same team?" Tenten asked curiously, finally pulling her hand away from the kunai pouch on her thigh. "We don't even know our final rankings yet..."
"Tch..." the shadow user clicked before smirking. "Can't you figure it out? The Hokage is most likely going to try and centralize us into as few teams as possible, to keep us as secret weapons."
"Besides, we already have Kurenai-sensei and Anko-sensei teaching us, it makes sense that they'll be pulled in when we graduate..." Naruto added with a smile of his own.
"A...and it means that you can support each other should something happen with your symbiont..." Hinata added softly, surprising her two classmates at the lack of stuttering.
Tenten and Lee glanced at each other and after a few minutes shrugged, figuring they could get used to each other. Sure Tenten was a little obsessed with weapons for the chakra challenged boy, and so what if Lee didn't like sharp, pointy, stabby, fun, fun things? They could work with each other just fine. They'd just have to find someone able to use a variety of jutsu that they didn't have an interest in, that they could trust, in order to complete the team. A teacher that could understand them wouldn't hurt in the least.
With no further questions, the topic returned to the discussion about how to approach the Hokage about this little situation. Naruto suggested them just telling him, while Shikamaru suggested being a bit more tactful, and starting with the ramen beast currently trying to eat its way out of the cage.
The entire group agreed that starting with the potentially insane and lethal beast might be the best way to go, so he could figure out what to do with that before getting hit by the latest incident. Carrying the cage between them, they took a short walk to the Hokage tower. When they got there, they had a short wait in the lobby, where the secretary kept forcing candy on them. Even the ramen beast got some, which caused it to quiet down. Apparently whatever that taffy stuff she had given it was, it served to silence the creature no loving god would have intended.
A few minutes later they were let into the office, with Kurenai and the Hokage waiting for them. Anko was also present, but she was facing the corner with her head hung in shame, so the younger trio knew that she wasn't going to be playing much of a role. "Ah Naruto-kun... and who are your friends?"
"This is Tenten-senpai and Lee-senpai... And we caught this thing we want you to look at..." Naruto answered while holding up the cage for the Hokage to look into. Inside he found the ramen beast contently chewing on the taffy. After a moment it looked up at him and waved what appeared to be a hand, made entirely out of noodles. The Hokage did the reasonable thing and tried to dispel a genjutsu. When he heard Kurenai muttering the release word next to him, he knew that she was seeing it as well.
"Naruto-kun... what is this?"
"Well... we were kinda hoping you could tell us... We found it under my bed when it threw the box of orbs at the wall..." Naruto answered while petting the ramen beast, which started burbling and cooing disturbingly.
"It used to be ram..." Sarutobi started before what Naruto mentioned sank in. "I see... Kurenai, Anko, these two will be joining the others for remedial lessons..."
"Awww can't I get a super cool tentacle beast creature to bond with me?" Anko whined from her corner, only to get spanked by Kurenai's sandal from clear across the room.
"Naruto, you three are going to be spending next week after school scrubbing every floor of the Hokage tower," Sarutobi continued without missing much of a beat. He ignored the moans of the three younger children. "And I suppose the care of... this creature will fall to the seven of you..."
"Can we call it Orby? He can be our mascot!" Naruto asked while tickling the ramen beast, who seemed to approve of the name. Everyone else was just a little disturbed by the fact that the creature was acting more like a pet than an abomination brought to life.
While all this was being discussed, ideas were whirling about in one of the most dangerous locations in all of Konoha. For once Anko had an idea in mind, there was little to no chance of getting it out. And right now, she wanted her own orb.