NARUTO
Destiny Breaker
Team 7?
About twenty minutes later…
"Good God Naruto, what on earth are you wearing?" Shikamaru choked out, having needed to do a sudden double take on his friend along the stairwell leading up the rows of desks, who was quite frankly, dressed completely out of character.
What needed to be mentioned here and now was that a lot of things had transpired in Naruto's life in the past 24 hours, which had given the jinchuriki adequate time to rethink his overall character and his wardrobe.
The numerous survival guides the spiky haired jinchuriki had been catching up on, strictly stated that shinobi on missions outside of their village required them to be dressed in accordance to job specifications. It also made mention that the standard shinobi uniforms of Konohagakure for Chunin and Jonin, consisting of a dark blue combination of shirts, pants, sandals, headband, and the promotional green vests, were highly recommended. However, the book also stated that ninja of any rank were allowed to follow their own custom range of uniform, as long as it was tasteful and that they were able to identify themselves as shinobi of their village, via their forehead protectors.
A shinobi shozoku was an ideal choice of uniform for a ninja, but Naruto thought that it was too old fashioned and bordered more along the lines of an ANBU look. He didn't want something that stuck out in the streets or scared children away. The appeal he was going for was something that would have people address him as who he was, and not drive them away at the same time. Nevertheless, he had set that idea aside for future referencing, not to mention current inspiration when it came to constructing his new outfit.
He had ditched the orange jumpsuit. Even though it did well against the cliff face of the Hokage Monument in broad day light, he realized that it wouldn't serve him as well in the forests, in the dark, where even the slightest illumination would light him up like a Christmas tree.
The boy went easy on himself tearing through his collection since he had tons of stuff piled up in his cupboards that he had been building up over the years. All articles had been neatly arranged, pressed and folded, just how he wanted them.
Using whatever he had on hand and shopping for anything else he was missing, he followed up on both what his interests were telling him and what the books instructed him to do, and assembled the ideal uniform for himself…
Even if it didn't look to be his known taste whatsoever.
Naruto had gone for something versatile, not to mention head turning. He had replaced his orange jacket and pants with a black, figure hugging body suit. The spandex was made up a fine material that provided warmth, comfort, and incredible flexibility, as it lacked any form of accessory that would interfere with his movements. He felt that this was a recommended element, as his style of fighting was close combat and required him to be as fast, loose and as nimble as possible. He had bought several pairs of the stuff since he liked them so much, and though it did accentuate the fine muscle lines he had managed to build up, did look kind of weird to others against a crowd. He had also removed his forehead protector from around his head and tied it around his waist. This covered the black belt he actually wore underneath, which had a matching leather holster around his back with a pair of trench knives slipped into it.
Furthermore, keeping to his old self, he had also managed to apply orange to his new look in the form of leg warmers, arm warmers and a long scarf. Luckily, he had managed to get his hands on an orange scarf that felt great and was perfect for his new occupation. It was ideal for adding warmth, and in addition could be adapted as a mask against smoke and gases. In conjunction with harsh environments he could fasten it into a turban for the hot suns and a breaker against the winds. Multitasking! It was an awesome concept!
The orange leg warmers had shin guards under them, which also supplemented a bit of weight to his form to keep him in practice with his newly acquired strength. There were also kunai sheathed away inside of the bands around the shins, along with other hidden items, as he no longer wore a pouch or a side holster. The same aspect could be applied to his arm warmers, which hid and held a number of devices from shuriken to throwing knives. It was perfect for him to have these weapons close by and on his person for quick draws that could catch opponents off guard. The only thing he really kept from his original outfit was the blue sandals at his feet, which stood out like the orange from his uniform.
The black was excellent for stealth and he didn't stick out of a crowd on first glance.
However, he looked particularly odd up close.
Shikamaru instantly noticed this on his way up to his seat.
"Holy he-I don't even want to know where you thought this up," Shikamaru looked away and held his hand up to his friend's face when he saw him about to respond to his previous outburst. After taking a moment to compose himself the Nara then glanced back around, refocusing attention on his subject albeit a disgruntled face. "Where in the world did you get these from?"
He gestured to the teen's whole person.
"From the local retailers," Naruto grinned and pulled on the fabric against his chest. "I got this whole piece for half price… waaa-y cheaper than my jackets and pants separately. Can you believe that? This is awesome!" The boy then stretched out, flexing his arms and bringing his legs up onto the table. "It's warm, comfortable, I can move freely… heck, and I'd even go so far to say that it is cool."
"Define… cool," Shikamaru murmured, weary of the coming answer.
"The appeal. That's all there is to it," Naruto smirked. "It's black with orange, there is no greater combo." Well… so he thought. "Not to mention that without any pouches or holsters, it's easier to hide my stuff…"
"Stuff?"
"You know, my ninja equipment… rations… kunai… shuriken," Naruto bent back a little and showed his friend that he wasn't wearing any of the carrying items he had described, which were standard equipment for a Genin and something that he now considerably lacked. "What if I had a clasp unfastened? The weapons and materials would fall out, wouldn't they? And what if they are stolen when my back is turned? I have to keep them close to me to make sure they can't be taken." The blonde flicked his wrist and a kunai shot out of his arm warmer and into his grip from a hidden gauntlet he had applied to his previous outfit then applied it to this one. He twirled the knife once or twice before sliding it out of sight again.
"What brought this up?" Shikamaru queried who was now genuinely and progressively becoming more interested in the boy's reasoning as he went on with his explanations. The Nara had to admit; the normally troublesome loudmouth had gone over his materials, equipment and other junk pretty well. It was as if Naruto was suddenly taking the idea of being a ninja seriously now, despite his still flamboyant and colorful attitude.
It was a healthy balance.
The jinchuriki smiled with a shrug, before leaning back with his hands behind his head.
"Let's just say… I had a great mid-term break," Naruto chuckled.
This earned a sigh and a headshake from the Nara. "Troublesome…" he murmured, slouching in his ascent.
Knowing that those were all the answers he was going to be receiving from the class clown, he then continued on his way up the stairs to a seat somewhere in the back. He wasn't sure which one but any seat that was available, really, was a good seat. If he couldn't get away from all of the noise he anticipated to be flooding in the direction of the teacher's desk, at least he could take a nap in the drone zone.
While Naruto was quietly leaning back in his seat and having a quick nap from his long afternoon the other day, he was silently joined by another fellow student, who took the seat next to him. Cracking an eye open, Naruto looked over to see Sasuke sitting quietly with his hands laced together, propped up on the desk and his chin rested on the grove of his knuckles. Upon sliding into the chair, the Uchiha proceeded to glare out the window in an incredibly quiet and cool manner.
The curious jinchuriki immediately shrugged off the other boy's silence and lack of interest in the day's proceeding as his normal routine.
'Why the hell does tall, dark and stupid have to sit next to me?' Naruto thought, letting out a sigh before closing both eyes again. He balanced himself on the hind legs of his chair carelessly, deciding to become more engrossed in his own thoughts. 'And why is it that I always find myself sitting next to someone who either doesn't talk or I can't talk to at all?'
Figuring that Iruka wouldn't be in for introductions till a little later, Naruto chose to go to sleep. His body had been screaming at him over the last couple of weeks to get some rest, as he had been working himself close to death. Even last night he barely got more than three hours in, mostly due to restless over the day following. However, now he had the perfect opportunity to catch some light z's and had an excellent excuse to do so. He had a comfortable seat; perhaps the best one in the house and Sasuke, the guy he hated most in the world, sitting right next to him. And because the Uchiha wasn't in the mood for talking, this left Naruto with nothing else to do.
He set his clock on standby and dozed off.
Sasuke continued to sit quietly where he was, left to his own devices and giving other students the impression that he was brooding. Though the vibes he emitted unnerved most of the guys in the class, it swooned the ladies, with the girls in the back row looking down at him with love hearts in their eyes.
Must have been his good looks? A handsome face could get you anywhere even if you were a total ass.
Shikamaru had also dozed off in the back row moments after he had sat down, with his head on the table and arms folded over his face. His good friend Choji was sitting beside him, munching on a bag of chips and grunting satisfactorily at every morsel that entered his mouth. Other notably distinguished students were also dispersed throughout the room, Shino keeping to his corner, Kiba playing around with Akamaru while chatting with a couple of no-namers, including Ami, and Hinata was seated in the top row, pressing her fingers together and ever so subtly glancing down at Naruto several rows down to her left.
With every delicate glance she took, she continued to wear a sweet, nervous smile on her face and had a light coloring of red on her cheeks.
'I'm so glad Naruto-kun made it,' Hinata giggled. 'I wonder if we'll be on the same team together?'
Really, everyone had something to occupy themselves with.
After another few minutes during which time the last of the students began to rock in, the chatter within the room increased in volume to a slightly louder rabble. Numerous conversations began to start up amongst the twenty seven post-graduates, all divided into groups, as the tension from earlier morning broke down a little. However, unbeknownst to everybody else a completely different rabble was about to blow in, in the form of a storm.
The students nearest to the doors picked it up first, believing it to be an earthquake of some sorts. The boys and girls looked around in bewilderment when the thundering and tremors grew more violent, before the cause of the shaking unexpectedly stormed in through the door leading from the outside corridor. Growling and clawing their way at the same time through the narrow entrance, Sakura and Ino, perhaps the two most recognized girls in the class for their constant arguments and competitions for Sasuke's affections, barreled in.
"Ha! Heh… I… I win… Ino-pig," Sakura panted, shoving the blonde away from her, while at the same time trying to catch her breath.
"In your dreams, Neander-head!" Ino pushed back, also panting heavily. The two of them then glared at it each other and stood their opponent down giving the ultimate impression that the pair were about to battle it out once again.
However, the brief confrontation ended with both girls eventually staggering the rest of the way into the classroom, almost supporting one another from the exhaustion of their five kilometer sprint here.
Hoping to lift her spirits, Sakura turned in Sasuke's direction and with renewed energy in her system jogged her way up the staircase and stopped at the isle where he was sitting.
Earlier that morning, the raven haired boy predicted that the girl would seek him out first and approach him on sight, which was why he chose this seat in particular.
The 'dobe' was in the way and would probably provide a temporary shield of relief for him, before the pink haired annoyance bowled over.
"Hi, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, trying to scoot over to the teen, before noticing that her path was blocked.
Glaring down she saw Naruto was sprawled out over the narrow space on his chair. Lying back, feet on table and back against the wall, he formed what could be described as a bridge between two cliffs. However, to Sakura he was just an annoying obstacle and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey! Beat it Dumbo, I want to sit on the other side," Sakura jabbed, tapping her foot impatiently.
The only thing she managed to coax out of the blonde was a loud snore. The jinchuriki's nose twitched before resuming a more peaceful chain of relaxed breathing. He was genuinely sound asleep and nothing short of a trumpet would be able to rouse him.
However, Sakura was unaware of this fact. One, because she was in no way familiar with the 'dead last' to begin with and was more concerned with Sasuke. Secondly, she was completely oblivious to how loud she could actually be, even though she had used her words harshly in the past numerous times before.
Quickly becoming agitated, the girl shoved him in the chest, but was unable to budge him for some reason.
"Oye! Moron! Didn't yah hear me? Wake up!" Sakura growled, her voice growing ever louder.
Some of the students sitting around turned to see what the commotion was all about, with those closest immediately identifying the problem. It was another Sasuke spat, only this time Naruto was caught in the middle and was unaware of what was going on around him. This earned some curious glances from some of the girls and snickers from the guys. Anticipation over what was going to happen next shot up around the classroom in a series of mutters, grins and bets made between students.
It had happened once, it could happen again.
Sasuke was also taking legitimate interest in the developing situation, as Naruto had failed to respond to the girl everyone knew the dobe liked even once. Heck, even when she was poking and jabbing him in the side he would barely register to it. All he did was snore and mumble. It must have been because he was dead tired, he didn't care or his body didn't, or he was just out of it.
Could have been true, who knew?
"DAMMIT, NARUTO! MOVE!" Sakura shouted and kicked his chair out from under him. His seat tumbled down the stairs with a few loud crashes and wound up at the bottom. However, something was off.
The boy didn't follow it.
The pink haired girl stood back a little bit perplexed and more overly shocked when she saw that Naruto's body was still supporting itself in a lying down position, despite the fact he had nothing underneath to hold him up. On top of that, he was still snoring away. Some of the students around him gawked, some of them laughed, while those with key familiarity towards body strength and physical exercise were astounded.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow and his mouth fell open slightly. His expression of disbelief was then quickly hidden behind a suspicious glare. "What in the world?"
"How is he doing that?" Ino asked while walking up to stand beside Sakura, who tapped Naruto on the stomach to try and determine what was happening. It may have been a trick and that he was actually being suspended by wires. But after checking below and above the boy where he was stretched out, neither of the girls could find anything.
"That's bizarre… but still annoying!" Sakura jabbed him with her fingers again on his stomach to wake him up.
Finally feeling the sting, Naruto's eyes opened slowly and blinked away the bright lights. Registering to reality, he sat up for a stretch, only to suddenly feel whatever it was holding him up just disappear right from under him. He fell. Yelling out in surprise and jumpstarting into action, he slammed his hands into the desk behind him and stopped himself.
"WHA? WHAT? What's going on?" Looking about wildly the jinchuriki then slowly shimmied his feet back down to the floor and stood up.
"Man… what the heck was tha…HEY! Where's my chair?" Naruto looked under his desk and then over it, where he saw his seat lying at the foot of the staircase. "Damn. How did it get all the way down there?"
"Whatever. That's your problem," Sakura said; pushing right passed him and nearly knocking him over his desk completely. "Move it, idiot! Hello, Sasuke-kun!" the pink haired girl exclaimed, doing a complete 180 in her mood and pulling up the other chair to sit right next to the raven haired boy.
The Uchiha didn't acknowledge her presence beyond a miserable grunt, with his eyebrow twitching in annoyance when he felt the presence of the kunoichi sit down beside him. Smiling brightly with the cutest expression she could muster to entice the boy, Sakura shuffled closer to him and tried to get the young man to open up to her a little, but aside from just sitting in silence and glaring out the window, he did nothing else.
Clearly he wasn't interested in her at all.
Naruto managed to regain his balance and after straightening his scarf, hopped down the stairs to get back his chair. Ino gave him some room to work and when he arrived at the classroom floor, hands in his pockets and his eyes squinted in their usual peeved off manner, he then looked back up to where he had been sitting.
Seeing that nobody was in the way, the boy sighed and lifted his left foot off of the ground, taking aim.
He slammed his sandal right down on top of one of the chair's four legs, as it was lying on its side, knocking it spinning into the air. Then, with careful precision, he side kicked the spiraling seat over the rows of desks and back to where it belonged three flights up. The furniture item spun over the heads of everyone seated in the first two rows, all eyes in the classroom watching in silence when it arced over the rafters, seconds before hitting the back of the desk Naruto had been lying against and perfectly sliding back into place underneath the table in front.
Successful, the blonde casually strolled back to his seat after its pinpoint landing, and nudged his way in. He resumed normal procedures, leaning on its hind legs and glaring up at the blackboard with a bored expression, whereas everybody else was now staring at him.
Still standing beside his row and having witnessed first hand his rather incredible display, Ino blinked.
"That was pretty cool," she murmured, sounding surprised. Several of the other students around her who had heard nodded in agreement.
Naruto caught on to her mutter and looked up at her with a grin, arms folded.
"Perfect balance and muscle control," the boy exclaimed proudly. He didn't want to show it outwardly too much, but he bloody loved his newfound strength. It felt like he could break pencils with barely any effort at all. "Kosuke-sensei taught me."
"Who the hell is Kosuke-sensei?" Ino raised an eyebrow, placing her hands on her hips.
"He's an old hermit living in the forest." The boy said this as if it were the most normal thing in the world, but all it earned him was an odd look from Ino and an even stranger one from Sakura beside him, who was distracted from her fawning over Sasuke by the flying chair.
Even Sasuke was glaring out of inquisitiveness.
It wasn't everyday you heard a fellow classmate talk about some otherworldly adventure that had somehow jettisoned him to a new level of strangeness and talent, all wrapped up into one. Those who continued to yearn for self-improvement were keying in to see if they could learn anything from the dead-last, of all people.
"Right…" Ino nodded, half believing her classmate's summary of his previous experiences. Perhaps he had been ramming his head against objects he had been walking into a little too hard, from what she remembered of his last escapade through the village.
"It's true. Kosuke is a really nice guy," Naruto grinned and pointed at her, then back at his chest, illustrating his next point. "He's a Genin just like you and me."
"So… he taught you to sleep as if you were an ironing board propped up and ready for use?" Ino asked with an amused smile. "Honestly Naruto, how were you able to continue sleeping without even a chair supporting you?"
The boy shrugged, rather puzzled by that news as well. "Honestly, I have no idea. My body is just really rigid right now because I've been training so hard over the past couple of weeks." He added to this by stretching his neck with his hand placed firmly against the back of it, earning a loud creak from his bones. "Not to mention reading."
"Oh, so you really can read? So that wasn't a joke at all," Ino waved a hand and looked away with a sly smirk, eager to take a few more routine, good natured jabs at her fellow blonde classmate. "I just assumed that you couldn't because… you know… being last in the class at everything and all. Not to mention you gave us all the impression that you couldn't read or write legibly for squat."
"Oh yeah?" Naruto frowned and pointed at her challengingly. "Well, we'll see who the dead last is when we start going out and doing missions. I've been cramming day and night for this. I'll hit the top in no time flat!"
"Yeah, I'd like to see that, dead last!" Kiba barked, earning a chorus of laughter from the rest of the class. "Akamaru and I will cream your ass any day."
Naruto wheeled around and pointed in his direction. "Shut up, dog breath! I could make mince meat out of you and your pup right now if I wanted to!" Frowning, the boy stood up and using his chair like a podium with one foot on the seat and the other on the floor, turned to the rest of the students who were all giving him a look.
Not only had he been reading but he had been training like crazy. He was pretty sure he could waste any one of the chumps in his sights, Sasuke included. But in spite of being hyped up and ready for anything, he didn't want to fight his fellow students inside of the confines of a classroom. His home field was out in the open.
But he could still make do with a lecture, since he was that awesome.
"Besides, we're Genin! As of this day, we're all shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato and we should act like it," Naruto grinned, waving the strands of hair out of his face in a sort of heroic pose. "Cooperation and comradeship is important for a shinobi, and as shinobi of this village that means we are friends. So let's all treat each other as such. It's what shinobi do and it's what we should all do!"
Ino smiled at that and so did Sakura, the two closest individuals to him. In fact a lot of the kids around the room, all of whom were on the receiving end of his declaration, nodded in approval with Kiba also smirking back at his gutsy response.
Even though the blonde was loud and talked big, most of his speeches didn't really leave much of an impact on the audience. But unlike every other occasion before, this time they knew he was right.
The sound of clapping drew everyone's attention to the doorway, where they saw Iruka walk in with a clipboard under his arm and a grin on his face.
"Now that's the kind of spirit I want to see out of each and every one of you," the scarred Chunin exclaimed while making his way over to his desk. With one hand in his pocket, he then directed his authoritative glare up towards the students scattered around his homeroom, all of them hurriedly taking their seats the moment his attention was fixed on them. Those who were already seated remained, whereas people like Ino and Ami scurried around and pulled up the nearest chairs they could find, with the former taking one directly behind Sasuke.
"Naruto is right. Starting today, all of you are real shinobi. To be more accurate, you are all Shinobi of Konoha. As such, you are expected to carry out your duties and your assignments to the best of your abilities, not just for you, but for your comrades and for your village," Iruka smirked and tapped his clipboard, running a finger down the list of names he had on hand. "But, even though you are ninja… you are still Genin. The hard journey that lies ahead of you has just begun and believe me when I say this to you all, it won't be getting any easier."
Flipping the board up into a more comfortable grip, he took out a pen and ran through the entire roll to ensure that everybody who had graduated was present. This then left the other category open for duty, which was the team allocations list.
"You will be sent out on missions and you will complete them in teams. The standard shinobi squads are made up of three man cells with a Jonin Captain leading each unit. For you Genin it's the same: three man teams and a Jonin as your sensei and team leader," Iruka looked up at all the familiar faces seeing that every single pair of eyes were locked onto him, with silence hovering over every individual.
The tension in the air was so thick he could feel it in his lungs.
The man cleared his throat. "All shinobi of Konoha have started out from where you are, as academy students… as Genin. You will live and train alongside your teammates, you will help each other get stronger, and you will follow your Jonin sensei's instructions to the latter, and complete your missions as a group." He grinned and directed his full attention to his clipboard. "Now, I'm going to announce the teams. These squads you will be assigned to will be maintained for the duration of your terms as Genin. No exceptions…"
The Hokage's Office…
The Third smiled at the crystal ball as he watched Iruka announce the teams name by name. For every name the teacher read out the image in the viewing orb would switch targets and lock onto the next student, giving the old Kage a clear picture of the squads and each of the assigned individuals' reactions.
Also joining him in audience over the proceedings were the Jonin who had signed up to take on the graduating students of the year, with the eight of the nine present in the room staring intently at the orb on their village leader's desk. Each of them was able to get a clear glimpse of the squad members they would be evaluating.
While the readouts continued, several of the Jonin in the room couldn't help but notice an abnormality in the picture.
"Wonder where Kakashi is?" a tall, bearded Jonin with an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth chuckled, looking about the room. "He's missing out on all the fun."
"Forget it, Asuma. He won't be here till around lunch period," a random shinobi from the back exclaimed, causing the others to laugh.
"Typical," the raven haired woman with red eyes standing beside Asuma commented, rolling her eyes. "That man should seriously consider getting a watch." Although, now that she thought about it, she realized that nobody would be able to count on the silver haired masked man on ever getting a watch. Kakashi said so himself, that 'it was too noisy and would attract a lot of unwanted attention', not to mention he preferred to tell the time by calculating the angle of the sun to the shadow on the ground, as per every well-versed shinobi.
Maybe that was why he was so late. He had terrible sense of timing either way.
"Anyway, dad," Asuma began, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth. "Wanna tell me the reason why you changed the team rosters at the last minute? It looked pretty solid to me before you decided to juggle around the candidates some more?"
"I believe that weaknesses can be turned into strengths when exercised in the correct manner," Hiruzen replied, tapping on the orb before glancing up at his son. "Bonds can be made and strengthened between people who are polar opposites of one another. Therefore, I stand by my dismantling of the traditional Ino-Shika-Cho team formation, to further test the strengths of our new Genin by adding diversity to the units."
The orb then fixated on a familiar, spiky haired blonde whom a lot of the Jonin recognized on sight. The jinchuriki's reputation had spread throughout most of the village, with tales of his vicious and untouchable prank master skills and Mizuki's defeat at his hands, being the main subjects tossed between people. Kotetsu and Izumo hadn't stopped bitching and making excuses from that day, in spite of their now frequent trips to the Training Fields to kick themselves back into shape.
However, as soon as the groups of shinobi realized the orb had locked onto Naruto all eyes turned towards the Hokage.
"Kakashi insistently lobbied for Naruto to be placed on his team, but you changed that as well, Hokage-sama," Kurenai said, blinking out of revelation.
The elder nodded, interlocking his fingers. "Believe me, it was difficult placing this one." He emphasized his point by gesturing towards the orb with the mouthpiece of his pipe, the Jonin watching as the boy on screen leaned back on his chair, swaying on its hind legs with his feet up on his desk. "But… it all worked out in the end."
"Wait a second. Team 6 has already gone through… so that means Naruto's in…" a shinobi wearing sunglasses began, counting the students on his fingers.
A lot of the other Jonin were thinking the same thing.
"You placed him on Team 7," Asuma said, his expression faltering a bit at that knowledge. "That's a little bit unfair on the kid, don't you think, dad?"
"You placed him on the squad where the Jonin in charge is the only one who didn't want a team in the first place," Kurenai stated, earning a nod from the elder.
All eyes in the room then glanced to the right, where they saw a woman with short, dark-brown hair, wearing a long-sleeved black top and wearing a low-waist, light purple skirt apron with light brown shorts hidden underneath, standing at the edge of the group. She also had gauze wraps around her shins, brown sandals and a kunai holster on her right thigh, with a large waist pouch on her back with two melee weapons sheathed away. The most definitive features of the Jonin was her hair, her forehead protector around her head, brown eyes and two purple rectangular markings on each side of her face.
She looked back at them casually with a curious expression, before a friendly smile spread across her lips.
"I know. I can't believe it either…"
Back in the classroom…
Iruka ticked off the latest team to be called and moved on to the next one on his list. "Team 7 will consist of Shino Aburame, Ino Yamanaka and Naruto Uzumaki," the Chunin announced, looking up with a smile. "Have fun, you three."
"Oooh…" Ino groaned, laying her head on the table and banging it against the surface several times. "This isn't happening… this isn't happening! Argh!" She looked up with her chin rested on her cold, hard desk, animated tears streaming out of her eyes. "I'm stuck with the dead-last and some guy I haven't even talked to before. Where is he?" The platinum blonde looked around her for the boy called Shino, her eyes eventually falling on the brown haired boy in the high collar jacket and wearing sunglasses, sitting in the back row to her right.
The Aburame's bifocals flashed when he looked in her direction and he nodded in acknowledgement to her. He recognized her as his teammate on sight and that was good enough for him for the time being. Unfortunately though, it wasn't good enough for Ino and she groaned out at her misfortune, and once again rammed her head against her desk.
"I stand by my disappointed groan," the girl mumbled, her voice muffled against the wooden surface.
"Cheer up, Ino-chan," Naruto exclaimed, looking up at the platinum blonde above him. The girl glanced down to see the boy smiling happily at her, as if he had no quarrels with their team selections whatsoever. "You may not be on the team you wanted to be on, but it'll be fun! You'll see!"
Ino shared a weak smile with the blonde, but it fell away moments later when she looked over at Sasuke and Sakura sitting beside him. Over the drone of her displeasure she distinctively heard Teams 8 and 10 called out. While Team 8 had Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara and Hinata Hyuuga on it, Team 10 consisted of her beloved Sasuke-kun, a lucky Sakura Haruno and a still smirking Kiba Inuzuka. Groaning even more, the Yamanaka girl hid her face away when she watched her eternal rival begin to fawn ever more over the raven haired Genin, who continued to ignore her despite her forwardness.
"Lucky bitch… her and her… stupid forehead!" Animated sweat drops flooded her hair along with a light downcast, which became visible to a lot of the people in the room, particularly the boy next to her. The guy sitting next to the Yamanaka backed away out of worry, not wanting to catch whatever she had.
Naruto blinked as he stared oddly up at the girl and her emotional downpour, before shrugging and turning back around. He had no idea what was wrong with her, but he'd probably find out a little later on when they met up for their first assignment.
"Okay, that's it for the teams," Iruka exclaimed, ticking off the last of the names and slipping his clipboard back under his arm. He smiled up at his class, soon to move out as Genin to serve their village proudly. "You will all be collected by your Jonin senseis assigned to your squads after lunch. That is at 1:30pm exactly from this room." The man then pocketed his hands. "Until then, I suggest you get together with your teams, get to know one another, and again, good luck."
Saluting, Iruka exited the room, leaving the chamber to the students.
A couple of minutes after their academy teacher's departure, the newly assigned graduates also began taking their leave. Filing out of the classroom three at a time, presumably in their groups, it left only a handful of other teens sitting around in their rows. Naruto was one of them.
Eager to meet his teammates face to face, the boy hopped off of his chair and, with a spring in his step, jogged up the isle to where Ino was still lying, her head laid to rest on the table top. There was still a bit of cloud and a chance of rain around her, so Naruto maintained a comfortable distance between himself and her. She looked as though she needed her space.
The spiky haired blonde looked down at her motionless form, contemplating on whether or not to approach her completely to check her condition. He was soon joined by Shino, the Aburame strolling up to him with his hands in his pockets and also gazing down at their other teammate.
"Is there something troubling her?" Shino murmured, his eyes locked onto the back of her head.
"Maybe," Naruto replied with a shrug. "I guess some people are just like that, you know." The boy then jumped when he realized who was speaking with him and he quickly switched targets. "Whoa! You're actually talking to me?"
"Yes… if you could call a few sentences exchanged in the first several seconds between us as a form of socializing," the normally unassuming boy said, looking up at the blonde curiously. Although with his glasses and high collar nobody could genuinely tell what he was actually thinking. "If I recall correctly you and I have shared conversations before in the past? Is this an aberration to your usual daily routine, to engage in trading pleasantries with me, Naruto Uzumaki?"
The jinchuriki blinked before giving the teen a despondent, squint-eyed expression. "You're very strange."
"I could say the same thing about you," Shino nodded to him respectfully. "I look forward to being on this team with you two."
Not knowing whether the boy was being sincere or not, the blonde decided to exchange his supposedly lighthearted expression of enthusiasm with a grin of his own. He rubbed the back of his head before turning to their other troublesome teammate, who has yet to acknowledge their presence. The clouds of envy and unhappiness hovering over Ino disappeared, giving the two Genin the sign that it was then safe to approach her.
However, when Naruto leant in to shake her awake, the girl suddenly bolted upright in her seat, startling the jinchuriki. Breathing in deeply she placed her fingers to her temples and hummed to herself.
After a brief moment of composure, she turned in her seat and faced the two boys beside her.
"So … you are my teammates, huh?" She looked between them, distinguishing the dead-last from the cool, outspoken one with ease. Within seconds of making that assessment she promptly rose to her feet and marched up to them, with both boys leaning back a bit when she got right up to their faces. "Well then, let's not waste time dawdling! Come on!"
Kiba, who was right in the middle of becoming acquainted with his other team members, watched on in peculiar interest as Ino dragged both Naruto and Shino out the door by the backs of their collars. She literally pulled them down the stairs and out into the corridor as if they were baggage, neither of them putting up any form of resistance as they were spirited away.
Akamaru barked noisily, with Kiba petting him on the head.
"I know, boy. There go the weirdoes," the Inuzuka chuckled.
A little while later…
Some ways away…
Ino had practically insisted that the three of them share lunch outside of the classroom, since the 'forehead' she so eloquently described was taking up too much breathing space for her to relax. And by practically, she literally pulled the two teens halfway across the school grounds before arriving at an appropriate place for them to eat and, in a manner of speaking, get to know one another.
Naruto had little say if any on the matter of where they could probably hang out for the first time as a team, whereas Shino, quiet as ever, didn't voice any form of opinion whatsoever. To be quite frank, they were all immensely relieved to be out of the stuffy classroom.
The trio eventually found themselves planted underneath a tree at the side of the footpath, which was laid out around the academy and outside of the Hokage Mansion. While Ino slumped down on the ground with a packet of rice balls opened up, Naruto laid on the ground with his hands behind his head, chewing on a reed, and Shino stood beside the tree with his hands in his pockets and simply looking about.
While she ate in annoyed silence, the platinum blonde did a little bit of reconnaissance by way of study of the two Genin she was expected to be working with. She looked up at the young man standing by the tree to her left.
She had no idea who Shino Aburame was, and had even less of a clue as to his clan origins and upbringing. Heck, the very first thought in her mind was whether or not the boy had a social status to begin with, as she had never seen him hanging around with any of the other students. He mustn't have hung around the academy much to begin with and only attended it for the lecture and practical sessions. Nevertheless, on the outside, he seemed to be a competent shinobi. He was quiet, calm and cool, sort of like Sasuke, and he didn't talk much. Furthermore, she was abysmal of his level of intelligence, but he had at least scored pretty high on all physical examinations.
Ino then looked over at Naruto and immediately her opinion of him was set at an exceptionally low standard. The boy had been an absolute wreck for all the time she had known him. Though he attended lessons with several absences, his grades were low and he did horribly in all chakra related exercises. In fact he had come up so short in everything that she was surprised he had even graduated at all. This made her question the schooling system and the quality of shinobi they were letting out of the village's gates. However, as far as she was concerned, though he lacked in basic knowledge he more than made up for in enthusiasm, innovation and physical strength. She had watched him in sparring sessions with some of the other students and despite coming up slightly short in technique behind taijutsu competent students Sasuke and Kiba, he showed a great level of physical strength and energy. In fact, he was the most energetic student out of everyone.
That had to count for something, right?
So to sum it all up, she was stuck with a ninjutsu incompetent and an unknown.
"I'm on a team of strangers…" Ino groaned in her head, and looked up towards the canopy of the tree. She imagined herself being on Sasuke's team, the three of which were probably somewhere else enjoying lunch, and how much happier her life could be with them. Unfortunately for her though, life was cruelly biased, and all the luck in the world was seemingly falling on Sakura.
Naruto hadn't brought any food with him, as he had had a big breakfast that morning. The taste of egg and bacon was still fresh on him and with the concept of lunch out of the way, this gave him enough time to think about other things.
He had a big smile on his face as he casually chewed on the reed and tasted the dew, thinking about how awesome it would be to finally get out of the village and get into some of the missions of a real shinobi of Konoha. Fighting other ninja, saving damsels, catching bad guys, it was all part of the plan, but an overly simplified one. He didn't want to get too much into the details yet. However, with his training over the past couple of weeks and all of his studying, he was pretty certain that he had managed to catch up to the others, maybe even have surpassed them. This gave him enough confidence in himself to believe that he could take on any enemy shinobi the world out there could throw at him.
That wasn't all. Like all of the other teams, he would be led and taught by a Jonin-sensei; a strong shinobi on a level several times higher than his own and somebody even stronger than Iruka. He couldn't wait to meet him. Whoever their new sensei was going to be would probably teach them some awesome jutsu, aside from the basic stuff he had picked up from at the academy. He needed something new to fill up his arsenal.
By extension, he wasn't too fussed with his team either. Although he had been hoping to be paired up with Sakura, he was still happy to be on a team regardless. He recognized both Ino and Shino from class, definitely, and though he hadn't spoken with them much in the past, he knew them enough to know that he could get along with them. While Ino was bossy and very much like Sakura, Shino was quiet and very spatially conscious; ultimately making the team he was on a very evenly stacked one. 'A unique team was a good team,' which was something Naruto had picked up from his Shinobi Basics article at home.
Shino on the other hand was buzzing with interest of his teammates, though this concept didn't show on the outside. He glanced down at the two of them and considered them, both by their personalities and their physical characteristics.
Other people clearly didn't know Shino well enough to know that he was a keen observer, since he kept to himself quite a bit. This was good if he was going to be a shinobi. But since he was on a team, he figured he could open up a little more. But first things first, he had to start with his teammates. In his eyes, Naruto was a very energetic and odd individual, charismatic in his own way, but not too subtle. He had below average grades which he made up for with attitude towards hands on activities. This was okay in his book, since his bugs were jittering strangely to what they could only describe as a new aura they sensed coming off of the young jinchuriki.
The Aburame also expressed great trust in Ino's abilities. He knew her to be pretty smart and calculative, a trait that made for a good shinobi in practice. Her abilities as a close-quarter shinobi were average and her physical fitness was enough for a Genin. On top of that, she had a shining personality, where in some areas, coincided with Naruto's quite well. Based on this report Shino could safely assume they would make a good team, one with some knots in it that could be worked through.
Every individual shinobi has their flaws, which transits into the team. However, through practice these faults could be covered.
Finishing off her third rice cake, Ino stopped and surveyed her team for a moment, before deciding to speak up. She gestured to the both of them to get their attention.
"Okay… if we're going to be on a team from now one, then we're going to have to get along," the platinum blonde stated, picking up another cake. "More over, we need to beat the living snot out Forehead Girl's team! Understand?"
"What is this obsession with the term 'Forehead Girl'?" Shino asked curiously, raising an eyebrow down at the kunoichi. "I… don't understand this?"
"Duh!" Ino slapped herself in the head and jabbed a finger up at him. "It's to describe that idiot Sakura Haruno! You know, the girl on Team 10… big forehead and all!" She made some wild gestures over her face to accentuate the highly noticeable traits of her rival.
All this earned though was a small shrug from the glasses wearing shinobi, who looked over at Naruto sprawled out on the grass with indifference.
"I don't believe it is necessary to humiliate a person's character based on their appearances," Shino stated, getting a surprised blink from the kunoichi. "Emphasis on such discrepancies can be very hurtful, which can lead to a breakdown in relations, and should not be used to deliberately put down a fellow comrade, as it might upset their competence and performance on important missions." The boy's glasses flashed in the sun.
Ino was rather taken aback by her teammate's reply. This was also responded to by Naruto, who quickly sat up from where he was lying down and smiled up at Shino. He spat out the blade of grass hanging from his mouth so that he could better face the other Genin with some dignity.
"I've just decided right now… I like you, Shino," Naruto grinned widely. Right here, the jinchuriki was being sincere. Sure he had found the teen to be quite odd and not that outgoing as others, but the Aburame had a pretty good grasp of what a good person was in his very own opinion. Hell, just from those words alone Naruto saw that Shino wasn't a person that put down others or insulted them on purpose. He spoke within reason.
Naruto knew this from experience. Being a social outcast, he had come to recognize particular characteristics from observations himself.
Shino was a cool character that tolerated others. That was something good.
"Even though you are a little strange, you're still an okay guy. Heh, every person has their little quirks, but that doesn't make them any more alien from everybody else, right?"
"Right," Shino nodded in agreement. "It's these differences that make our team more complete."
"Geez, what's with all of this wholesome social equality talk all of a sudden?" Ino murmured, holding up her rice cake and picking at it. "It's just a little bit of good natured nicknaming I'm having with Forehe-I mean, with Sakura, if that's what you guys are so worked up about." The girl gritted her teeth and clenched her fist angrily, her limbs trembling. "I mean… I'm sorry for filling up the air with this but… she just had to be with Sasuke-kun… the man I am destined to be with! DAMN! This just bites!"
"Pft! As if he is that cool," Naruto grumbled, looking over at the kunoichi sitting beside him. "Look, what you see him as right now is just the book cover. What's beneath that is a completely different story."
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Ino frowned at the other boy and placed her hands on her hips. "Sasuke is awesome."
"He may be good to look at on the outside, but inside he is a completely different person," Naruto waved his arms about furiously, before slapping his hand over his chest. "That's what I'm trying to say to you! All he's interested in is himself and his own stuff; nothing else. All those girls follow him around, but he just ignores them. Do you think he would spare any of his time for somebody else? Unless he saw that there was something in it for him, he wouldn't care? You're just wasting your time with him, Ino… trust me."
"You don't know Sasuke-kun as much as I do," Ino exclaimed, putting her hands together and looking up with a dreamy expression, "The best Genin in Konoha, the rising star, and the man for all girls. He is a disciplined gentleman with a heart of stone." Her sigh added to the end of this statement asserted her position that she was not going to give up chasing the guy's shadow. Hell, she wasn't even close to stopping now.
Naruto sweat dropped dejectedly. "Fine… if you think he's worth all your time and energy, go ahead. You'll just wind up hurt." The boy waved a hand in disinterest and folded his arms with a huff. "At least that's one thing I know about you now. You're obsessed over the teme."
"What we should do now is concentrate on the team," Shino stated, completely disregarding the girl daydreaming in the corner and the argument that took place.
Yet just one of the knots that needed to be undone.
Naruto looked up at the teen and smirked. "Yeah, you're right, Shino; the team. Okay! What I think we should do… is uhh… is umm…" he rubbed his head a little bit, scrunching his face up in concentration as he formulated some sort of coop for the three of them to work on. However, with the amount of info he had to go by with the other two there was only one thing he could actually come up with as a compromise to any other activity. "We should… we should just start from scratch! Reintroduce ourselves and start off new! Like… tell each other what our; strengths and what our interests are… basic stuff."
"Agreed," Shino murmured.
"Alright," Ino said, setting down her rice cake and shuffling up closer to the center of the triangle they formed. Shino stood off of the tree so that he could stand beside them and catch wind of everything that was going to be thrown about. "Who should start off then?"
"I will!" Naruto grinned enthusiastically and got more comfortable in the circle. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. My hobbies are training and reading cool ninja stuff, and my main strengths are close-combat, taijutsu and brawling." He thumped his right fist into his left hand. "I'm a Strong Fist style fighter and I'm really well balanced. I've also got incredibly strong legs, with which I can jump higher than the highest tree in this village in a single leap."
"Hmm… okay," Ino smiled, very intrigued by the boy's lively response and what he had added to it. Though she thought some of it may have been hot air he was breathing out, a lot of it seemed genuine. Acknowledging she had picked up on that bit of bio, she then began looking between her two fellow shinobi. "My name is Ino Yamanaka; I'm from the Yamanaka Clan of this village. My hobbies are shopping and looking after flowers and my strength is, if not in combat and setting traps, then it's my clan's trademark technique, the Shintenshin no Jutsu. I'm also going to try and learn some medical techniques in the future."
"That's useful," Shino exclaimed, with Naruto nodding enthusiastically on the side.
"Yeah! Yeah. Just in case any of us get injured. It'll be a big help to have a good medical ninja on our team," the blonde grinned. Ino smiled back, feeling that she had made a significant input into the group thus far.
"Well then," the quiet boy standing beside the other two knelt down. Just so that he was eyelevel with them, he began to speak. "My name is Shino Aburame; I'm from the Aburame Clan. My hobbies are studying biology and looking after insects, and my strengths in ninja combat are tactics and a stationary style of fighting utilizing the long range capabilities of my kikaichū."
"Kikaichū?" Naruto queried.
"Parasitic Insects?" Ino blinked. "How?"
"Like all of my other clansmen, my body acts as a nest for the beetle that forms the basis of all our clan's techniques," Shino explained, raising his hand and extending a finger.
Naruto and Ino looked at it curiously for a moment, wondering if he was just pulling their legs or not. They then got a startling surprise when they saw a small mass of beetles suddenly crawl out from underneath his sleeve and the back of his palm. Ino had to suppress a shriek when she saw them emerge and beat their wings.
"They're a breed of beetle that feed off of people's chakra. In exchange for their services, they use our bodies as a home and exchange chakra with the host. A symbiotic relationship is developed in this manner between us and the beetle."
"T-That's kind of creepy," Naruto murmured and crawled over for a closer look. After looking at the insects for a few moments a grin formed on his face. "But still… that is so cool!"
"I've heard of your clan and your abilities from daddy, but I never actually believed him. He told me that your clan is one of the most formidable in terms of indirect combat and long range attacks," Ino said, looking over at the boy as he withdrew his hand and the beetles on him hid themselves. He nodded towards the platinum blonde, responding to her statement with his attention. The girl smiled. "So you actually do have insects living inside of your body?"
"Yes."
"So… what can you, like… do with them?" Naruto asked curiously.
Shino directed his gaze at the blonde, expression unchanging. "Stealth, espionage, scouting, tracking and sucking chakra out of a victim," he replied, explaining in brief the capacity at which the bugs granted him in terms of shinobi performance. "My insects function better in combat in swarms, in which I can either drive away or trap a victim in a cloud. By extension of my abilities, I can also communicate with other insects."
"Wow…" Ino nodded approvingly, before beginning to look between her two teammates once again. "So, we all pretty much have our skills that make up our group. Shino; you have long-range and scouting under your belt, Naruto; close-range and physical strength, and I have; traps and mid-range. Shino and I make up for a lot in tactics and… uhh… Naruto…" The kunoichi looked over at the boy with a rather puzzled look on her face. "You said you could jump high? Like… how high, exactly?"
"Like I said; higher than a tree," Naruto grinned.
"I mean, we can all jump high, Naruto. We conditioned our bodies and trained them to utilize our chakra to extend our jumping distance and speed in the academy. Aren't you maybe… exaggerating a little bit?" the girl smiled, wondering if he was still joking or not. She admired the boy's enthusiasm and spirit, but surely he was just being a little bit naïve.
Since he lacked other talents, she could see why he would want to cover it up. There was no way he could…
"No really. I can. Here… I'll show you," Naruto hopped to his feet and jogged all the way to the middle of the footpath they were sitting beside.
Ino and Shino, both of them curious to see what he could actually accomplish, got up and followed after him. Stepping out from under the shade of the trees, the pair stood by and watched as the jinchuriki looked up to see whether there was anything overhead that would interfere with his jump. Making sure there was nothing in the way, he then smiled and turned back towards them.
"During the two week break, I went through a lot of leg extension exercises to help me increase my speed and physical strength. It's also helped me to attain perfect balance," Naruto knelt down and lifted one of his leg warmers, showing the two a metal brace around his ankle, along with the rows of kunai hidden. "These leg weights under my shin guards keep me in a constant state of strenuous movement. They weigh me down so I don't slack off too much and I can maintain the strength in my legs." He then removed the weights, placing them on the concrete.
Standing back up, he held his arms out.
Ino and Shino blinked, looking at each other for the briefest of moments and back again.
"You'd be surprised at what I can do with little effort," Naruto grinned and crouched slightly.
Without so much as a grunt of exertion, he jumped. The blonde rocketed into the air in the form of an orange blur, both Shino and Ino following him with their eyes. At first they expected him to reach only about fifty to a hundred feet, which was the average of most shinobi at full tension. However, their eyes widened considerably when they watched him soar higher and higher, and continue to climb without stopping. Within seconds of his take off, he was but a speck in the sky and the clouds above.
Silence fell, with Ino counting the seconds from Naruto's take off to his inevitable landing. Shino also counted down, with their attention unwavering from the blue yonder and the patches of clouds drifting overhead. Then, about a few seconds later, they saw their teammate come diving back down. At first they were worried he was going to crash and break his legs. But then he surprised them all once again with a perfect landing on his right foot, on his toes. The blonde grinned when he touched down with barely a sound and he gently lowered himself into a normal standing position.
"Well?" Naruto grinned. "Did I jump good or what?"
"T-That…" Ino gulped. "Was amazing!"
"Twenty seconds of ascent and descent… impressive," Shino exclaimed in amazement, though his tone conveyed little sense of surprise in his character. "How are you capable of such a feat?"
"Kosuke-sensei. I'll take you to visit him sometime, you'll like him. He's a great guy." The jinchuriki knelt down and reattached the weights under his leg warmers. After which he then rose to his feet, smiled and looked up towards the sky, retracing his path. Hand over his eyes to shield him from the sun the boy smirked to himself "I reached peregrine height, that's not bad. I should keep working on it though. Maybe I'll touch the clouds one day…"
Ino, shaking off her astonishment, smiled and approached the boy, enthralled by his amazing capability. "W-Well. You sure showed me, Naru-kun," the girl grinned and patted him on the shoulder. Truly, she had been slapped in the face by the jinchuriki, who had demonstrated something that she thought would never have been possible by anyone. The boy was just full of surprises. "Heh. I guess you're not a total loss after all."
"Haha. I'll take that as a compliment," Naruto exclaimed back, the two blondes sharing a grin at the end of the exchange.
They formed a circle in the middle of the path, the trio facing one another with signs of excitement and enthusiasm evident on their faces. With the atmosphere set at the right tonnage, Ino decided to conclude their little meeting and extended a hand of friendship to the center of their triangle.
"If we work together, there's nobody that can stop us," the Yamanaka smirked. "From now on, we're Team 7."
"Team 7," Naruto nodded in agreement and placed his hand on top of hers. It was shortly joined by Shino's, the boy looking between them with his unchanging expression.
"Team 7…"
The three teenagers shared a smile and braced each other tightly, with Ino winking at the pair and the jinchuriki of the group chuckling in his characteristic manner. They relinquished moments later.
Though they had barely come to know one another personally, a pact was still born between them, right then and there. They all knew that as a team the person that they could count on the most was the person standing right next to them. And in spite of their differences and their unique quirks, they intended to see this through to the end.
Meanwhile…
Naruto's apartment…
"So, this is where young Naruto lives?" the brown haired Jonin that was to take on Team 7 exclaimed out of inquisitiveness, looking about the apartment she was in with great interest. Hands in her pockets, the woman walked around the couch and into the dining room area, utterly bewildered by everything. The table shared the kitchen area and though it would primarily be used for eating, there was still a bunch of stuff lying around that hadn't been put away, indicating that it played more than one role.
Aside from an empty plate and a glass of half drunken orange juice on the table, there was also a stack of various books that had been borrowed from the library. One article in particular caught the woman's eye, which was the Basics of Explosive Tag Manufacturing, sitting beside a more advanced copy lying open beside the plate.
Fingers twitching, she picked it up and examined the title and both sides of the cover.
"He has some very strange hobbies," she plopped it back down with a sigh. "You can tell a lot about a person by what they read."
"He's been alone his entire life," the Third Hokage spoke up while stepping into view from the living room, hands behind his back. "Since he was capable of living by himself, he's had no parents or anyone to look after him, to take care of him, or to love him. For the longest he can remember, he's gone on not knowing who he is or where he came from, and has had no one to teach him anything of value. Because of this, he's had to learn everything by himself." The elder watched the woman walk about the kitchen some more and take in the environment, gaining a better understanding of the boy's living conditions. "I placed him on your team because I knew you were one of only a handful of shinobi in this village who can relate to him."
"Hmm," the woman murmured and stopped by the fridge. Being the practical minded person, she opened it up and looked upon shelves packed with cups of ramen and some miscellaneous refrigerated items. Not quite the contents she was expecting, but a very fascinating diet. "He's a little bit misguided… a very… simple minded individual… "
"Naruto isn't very smart," Hiruzen stated. "Having to raise himself on whatever he had is one of the reasons why he's slightly behind most of the other students in his class. But I know you will look after him well. You've dealt with his type before." The old village leader tipped his hat to her and turned his head to gaze out the window. "I gave you a mixed batch that should be able to balance out each other's strengths and weaknesses, so you should do fine."
The kunoichi closed the fridge and turned around, her expression still bearing a small smile. "What if I refuse to pass them?"
"I'm not too concerned about that," the elder smirked. "I know you will pass them. After all, you were taught by the very best shinobi this village has ever had, so you should know what to look for in them."
"Understood…"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note: lol. Naruto, Ino and Shino... right? One of the most unlikely teams I could think of. I wanted to throw Shikamaru or Kiba in there, but I thought this was good. Very much like the traveling trio from Samurai Champloo.
However, my main inspiration for putting them together was from the team that was formed for the Isaribi arc of the series, and I saw that all three of them had something to offer then. However, I changed their sensei... took me a while to come up with who. Guess who it is...
I also threw Kiba with Sasuke and Sakura, since he's pretty much like Naruto and balances them out pretty well with another brawler. Plus Hinata with Shikamaru and Choji, she definitely makes up the close quarter aspect of the team and also contributes as a good tracker.
And for all those who still think Naruto is too strong from the tree climbing training, just wait till the next chapter... (evil laugh)... the true purpose of the exercise was to give him the capability to jump considerable heights. Doesn't mean he's gotten way strong, he's still far behind Lee's league.