Alright so here is chapter 7. Sorry it took so long for the update. I was away with my family and then I had to deal with Hurricane Irene. Just a few things about this chapter. Kabuto makes an appearance and we get to see the council as well. Team 9 is introduced in this chapter. In my story Lee will still have his chakra disease, but in mine Lee will be able to use it inside of his body, but just not use it for any jutsu. In the anime and manga he walks on water when his team fights Kisame so he must be able to use the tree climbing and water walking exercises.
I do not own Naruto.
(Training Ground 7)
Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Naruto all lay on the ground exhausted. Kakashi-sensei had been pushing them hard over this past week. They have had one-on-one spars with each other all week while wearing weights and without them so they could get used to the difference. By the end of the week Kakashi had let them start to use ninjutsu as well. Though they had just begun elemental manipulation they could still use a few lower level techniques from their respected elements.
"Alright team I am very proud at how hard you have all been working. You definitely don't seem as though you graduated from the academy a month ago" Kakashi said as he looked on at his three genin who were all nearly passed out on the ground.
"Alright we will take an hour break so you can eat and rest up then I want you guys to continue working on your elemental manipulation."
The three boys groaned as they tried to get up to eat their lunches that they had packed.
After the hour had passed the boys felt they were ready to begin finishing the first steps of their training.
Naruto and Sasuke each grabbed a leaf while Shikamaru had a light bulb in his hand. Naruto had been trying to cut the leaf in half using only his wind chakra but so far he only had a small cut on it. Sasuke was told he needed to turn the leaf to ash, but so far he had only made little burn marks along the edge. Shikamaru was the furthest along in his first stage of manipulation and it bothered Naruto and Sasuke because Shikamaru was the laziest among them.
Shikamaru had a light bulb and had to have it light up using his chakra alone for two minutes and he was already at forty five seconds. Kakashi was shocked that he was progressing this fast. Kakashi was sure that Shikamaru would take the longest with his lazy attitude.
Shikamaru figured the faster he got this training done, the more time he would have do to his own thing. It also doesn't hurt when you are a genius. Shikamaru decided to go to the library after learning of his lightning element and read up on all the books on elemental training. Shikamaru figured that in a week he would have the first part down and he could move onto the second.
"How is Shikamaru doing this better than any of us? He is the laziest person I know." Naruto asked the group.
Sasuke just looked at him and turned back to working on his own training. 'I need to get this completed. Itachi is out there getting stronger while I am here working on this training. I need to progress faster.'
'Hmm, I am surprised that Shikamaru is doing the best. He keeps surprising me the most. His genius seems to know no bounds. Naruto is having trouble with his control. I will have to have Asuma work on that with him when we start the joint training tomorrow. Sasuke seems to be distracted. He is letting his anger get the best of him. I will need to speak with him again.' Kakashi thought as he looked on at his genin.
Kakashi read his book as the boys worked on their exercises for the next few hours. "Alright you guys that is enough training for today. Tomorrow we are going to start a new kind of training. I want you all to meet me at Training Ground 1."
"Why are we starting a new kind of training? We just started working on our elements." Naruto said
"The Hokage has ordered a new kind of training for this year's batch of genin. We will also be working with last year's genin as well. Hokage-sama believes that this will be beneficial and help all of our genin grow stronger."
'Why would the Hokage start a new training regime now? The one we had in place before seems to have been working? There must be more to the situation' Shikamaru thought.
"I want you all at Training Ground 1 by 8 tomorrow. I will be there as well so do not worry about me being late. The Hokage has ordered me not to be late for this one. You guys are free to go. Sasuke can I speak with you for a second"
Naruto and Shikamaru walked away from their training ground and left Sasuke with Kakashi.
"What do you want Kakashi-sensei?"
"Sasuke, I wanted to ask you what has been on your mind lately. You seem to be distracted while training. I can see the anger in your eyes."
Sasuke just looked at his sensei. Sasuke didn't want to speak with him about his past, but Sasuke was sure that Kakashi already knew about it.
"Sasuke, I know about your past and I know you are driven by your rage and want for revenge bu-"
"What would you know about it?" Sasuke yelled out. He was starting to get upset by talking about this.
"Sasuke calm down. I know about revenge and what it can do to you better than most. I witnessed one of my teammates die in front of my eyes during the Third Shinobi War and I was driven by the revenge until the point where it lost me my other teammate and almost consumed me. I know you may not want to hear this, but if you want to become stronger, hatred and anger are not the ways. True strength comes from the heart Sasuke"
With that Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke and left Sasuke to think about his life.
(2 Hours later. Clearing near a pond)
Naruto currently had three clones next to him working on the leaf cutting exercise. Kakashi had asked him not to work with so many clones, because he wasn't sure how Naruto would be able to handle the mental backlash with his training.
"Why is this so damn hard?" Naruto asked out loud. "What am I doing wrong?" Naruto looked down at the leaf he had in his hand and noticed that he had yet to cut any deeper.
"Maybe you should ask for some help Naruto." Naruto whipped his head around and through a kunai in the direction of the voice.
"Show yourself" Naruto said to the unknown watcher.
"You almost had me Naruto with that kunai; it seems you have been training while I have been gone." The man said as he dropped to the ground.
"Kabuto-sensei! What are you doing here? I knew someone was watching me when my seal went off but I figured it was ANBU checking in on me"
'His work in sealing is progressing fast. I will need to notify Orochimaru about this'
"I was on my way back from a mission and I decided to check our old training spot to see if you were here, and lucky me you were."
Kabuto looked at Naruto and noticed that his clones were holding leaves as well. 'Are those solid clones? Did he somehow learn the shadow clone?'
"Naruto what clone technique is that?"
"Oh, this is the Shadow Clone Technique. I learned it recently. Only you and my sensei know about it."
"How did you learn the technique? It is a jonin level technique that requires a lot of chakra"
"Well a month ago there was a break in at Hokage-jiji's office and I caught the man who was trying to steal from him and I learned the move from the scroll he was carrying."
'Naruto was the reason Mizuki never made it to the meeting spot?'
"You took out the thief all by yourself? I'm impressed Naruto."
"Uh well you see I wasn't the one who defeated the thief, it was Iruka-sensei. He beat up Mizuki-teme and made sure he couldn't escape."
'Iruka? The academy teacher? Mizuki said he was weak. I guess Mizuki underestimated him and he paid the price for it.'
"Naruto how about a little spar to see how much you have grown over the past few days."
"Ok, Kabuto-sensei but don't underestimate me. I am better than I was last time we fought."
"I believe it Naruto. Let's begin on the count of three. Three…. Two… one, begin!"
Naruto took out two kunai, one in each hand and his clones followed suit. Naruto decided to try and surround Kabuto. Kabuto saw the four Naruto's begin to advance on him and he knew he had to take out the clones before he could engage Naruto.
Kabuto threw some shuriken at the clones, but they either dodged or blocked with their own kunai. Kabuto then rushed the nearest clone and engaged the clone in a taijutsu battle.
Kabuto easily took out the first clone with a feint to his right and then followed up with a quick jab from his left. As the clone dispelled, Kabuto could hear one of the clones coming up from behind. Kabuto quickly crouched down low and swung his leg out to take out the advancing clone. As Kabuto finished his leg sweep, he jumped back and began a series of handseals before exclaiming "Doton: Mud Bullet Barrage". Kabuto shot out four mud bullets, two at each Naruto.
As Naruto watched his clones being taken out, he was getting the information back and was coming up with a plan on how to defeat Kabuto. As Kabuto jumped up and began going through seals, Naruto decided to go through his own. As Naruto heard Kabuto say his technique, Naruto finished his own "Futon: Wind Bullet Barrage". Naruto spit out four bullets, as well as his clone. As the two techniques collided, four wind bullets made it through and went straight for Kabuto.
Kabuto was not expecting Naruto to know an elemental attack so he was caught off guard and was only able to dodge three of the four bullets. The fourth bullet hit Kabuto square in the center of his stomach and forced him to crash into a tree. Right as Kabuto was about to hit the tree, he was replaced with a log.
Naruto looked around the clearing and began searching the trees for Kabuto. Naruto felt the ground below him begin to shake and noticed the ground had begun to turn into mud. Naruto quickly jumped away and landed on the water.
"That was good Naruto. You're reaction time has definitely improved. I was not expecting that wind technique. You surprised me with that one" Kabuto said as he landed in the clearing.
"I told you not to underestimate Kabuto-sensei. I'm a lot stronger than I once was."
"How about we stick to taijutsu for now. We can always include ninjutsu another time. I am curious to see how you have progressed with your taijutsu."
Naruto decided to run straight at Kabuto and engage him in a taijutsu battle. Naruto threw a left kick followed by a right punch, but Kabuto was too fast for him, and blocked each hit.
'Why is there so much force behind his hits? He never hit this hard before. What kind of training has he been doing?'
As Kabuto blocked Naruto's latest punch, Kabuto decided to go on the offensive. Kabuto attacked Naruto with a quick right jab followed up with a quick left knee to Naruto's stomach causing him to double over. Kabuto took advantage of this and decided to hit Naruto with his right elbow right in the middle of his back, causing Naruto to hit the ground.
Kabuto backed up a bit allowing Naruto to breathe and get up.
"You're speed has improved but you still have too many openings Naruto. You need to work on tightening your stance."
"Don't worry sensei, I was just checking your strength and speed. Now I will start getting serious." Naruto said as he was slowly getting up and began to grab his ankles and wrists. Naruto unlocked his weights and allowed them to hit the ground.
Kabuto watched in awe as Naruto released his weights. When the weights hit the ground there was a little cloud of smoke. 'How heavy were his weights' Kabuto didn't get a chance to think too much of it as Naruto suddenly disappeared and reappeared right behind him kicking him right in the back. As Kabuto was kicked forward he began to twist his body so that he would land on his feet.
"Well Naruto it seems I have underestimated you. Who would have thought you were wearing weights. You're speed has increased to at least mid chunin now. I am impressed."
'I need to end this because I can't let Naruto know of my true skills. He might begin to wonder if I show him how strong I really am.'
The two fighters rushed right at each with matching speeds and soon were in a stalemate when it came to their taijutsu. Whenever Naruto would punch, Kabuto would block and follow up with his own, only to have Naruto block that. As the two fighters jumped away from each other to get a minute to breathe, Kabuto spoke "Damn, Naruto. You sure have grown. Before you could have never lasted this long against me. Now you are keeping up with me quite well. I say we call this a night, as I still need to report to the Hokage and you most likely need to get up early for training."
"Alright Kabuto-sensei, but don't think you are going to get out of finishing this fight. I still had a few tricks up my sleeve. And you are right I do have training early tomorrow. I should probably go prepare. See you sensei."
With that Naruto picked up his weights and jumped away into the trees, leaving Kabuto to his thoughts. 'He is far stronger than I thought. I will need to let my master know about this. Hopefully he will see my way and ask Naruto to join him as well. Having him with us will be beneficial to our plans.'
(Hokage's office)
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office with four jonin in front of him. Sarutobi sighed and leaned back in his chair. This was one of those nights that he actually felt his age. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep doing this. He needed to find a replacement soon. Next time Jiraiya was in town he would speak with him again about taking up the position. Sarutobi looked at the four jonin in front of him and smiled. 'These four are some of our best and will lead the new generation into greatness.'
"Hokage-sama, are we all cleared for the group training tomorrow? I wasn't sure how the council and the clan heads would take the new training idea" Kurenai asked, while the other three all thought the same thing.
"Yes the council has agreed though I had to fight them a little bit over it, but in the end they did decide to allow the clan heirs to participate in this training. I believe that most of them have seen that they rely too heavily on their clan techniques and will need a back-up plan in case someone can counter than clan techniques."
All four jonin present, Kurenai Yuuhi, Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, and Gai Maito, all nodded in agreement. These four jonin did not come from clans that relied on clan techniques and were some of the strongest in all of Konoha. Kakashi and Gai were the two strongest outside of the Hokage and the Sannin.
"Hokage-sama what are we limited to in teaching the genin?" Kakashi asked
"I want you all to go over your areas of expertise and start to introduce them to their respective elements. I do not want them going beyond the second stage of elemental training until after the chunin exams. It was hard enough to get the council to agree to allow this training. I do not want to push it with what we are teaching them. I will also have a few of the other jonins and special jonins come and teach them a few things as well.
Like I said before, Gai you will be teaching them taijutsu and making sure they well versed in their own form as well as make sure they have enough stamina. Kurenai I want you to train them in genjutsu, not only in detecting it, but also in casting it if they are skilled enough. Kakashi you are to show them ninjutsu from their elements as well as work on strategy with the genin. Asuma you are to work on ninjutsu as well, because Kakashi has informed me that Naruto has a wind affinity like you. I also want you to work on some kenjutsu."
"Hai, Hokage-sama" all four jonin said.
"What other jonin are coming to help strengthening these young genin's youth?" Gai asked the Hokage.
"I am going to ask Hayate and Anko. I might have Izumo and Kotetsu because of their teamwork. I know they are not jonin, but they are well above the average chunin level. I might also ask Iruka."
"Iruka? As in the academy teacher?" Gai asked
"Yes, that is the one. He has recently been training with Kakashi-san here and he is jonin level, but just has yet to be tested. His barrier and sensing skills are something to take note of. I believe he could help show the kids a few of his tricks and he is the most familiar with them."
Gai nodded. He would trust in the Hokage's decision.
"Gai I would also like you to introduce some weapons to the genin. I want them to be familiar with them. They do not need to choose one to wield if they do not want to, but if one of them is drawn towards a weapon then I want them to try and learn how to use it."
"Hai, Hokage-sama"
"I want you all to report to Training Ground 1 at 8. This includes you Kakashi. I will be there as well to talk with the genin about this new training. I will not accept you being late for this meeting."
"Hai, Hokage-sama. I will be on time for tomorrow."
The other jonin present were shocked. Kakashi had actually agreed to show up on time.
"That is all I have for this meeting. You are dismissed. I will see you all tomorrow"
With that the four jonin left in various ways leaving the Hokage alone. Sarutobi pulled out his favorite book and lit up his tobacco pipe. Sarutobi opened to wear he left off as he leaned back and started to giggle a bit.
(The next morning, Training Ground 1, minutes before 8am)
"I bet Kakashi-sensei will still be late today even though he said he would be here on time" Naruto said to Sasuke and Shikamaru as they walked towards the training ground.
"Who knows, he seemed like he was serious. I think he will be here on time" Shikamaru said.
As the boys approached the training ground, they were surprised to see the other kids they graduated with. There was also one team that they had never seen before but they distanced themselves from the others.
"Hey guys, what are you all doing here?" Naruto said as he ran up and greeted the other genin.
"Our sensei told us to meet them here at 8, I am assuming that yours did as well?" Shino asked.
"Yea Kakashi-sensei told us to be here at 8. What time is –" Naruto could never finish his sentence as suddenly five people body flickered into the training ground.
Naruto turned to the five and said "Hokage-jiji! What are you doing here? Kakashi-sensei you are actually on time, what gives? Man this is already one weird training session and we haven't even started."
Everyone who wasn't used to Naruto's antics was shocked. How could he talk to the Hokage and his sensei like that?
"Naruto if you quiet down I will explain what everyone is doing here today" the Hokage began. "I have recently decided that it would be best if our genin became more versed in the ninja arts before they become chunin so that way they will have a better understanding. With the help of some of our more experienced ninja, you twelve genin will be the first ones to undergo this new training and we will gauge the results from there.
I will have Gai, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma each be teaching you as well as a few of my other jonin and special jonin. From them you will learn the different arts of being a ninja and hopefully be able to choose your own path from there. Do you guys have any questions?"
All of the genin looked at each other and around to their senseis and the Hokage. None of them had anything to say.
'This new training is going to be troublesome'
'With this training I will definitely get stronger'
'After this training I am going to be one step closer to being Hokage'
All of the genin had mixed feelings about the training. Sakura and Ino didn't want to embarrass themselves in front of their "Sasuke-kun" and Hinata wasn't sure she was strong enough to make it through the training.
"Alright seeing as none of you have any questions we can begin the training. For this first day I want each Jonin-sensei to rotate about the squads and assess their skills of each genin in their respective fields. Rock Lee, you will be excused from the genjutsu and ninjutsu portions because of your disease."
"Hai Hokage-sama, I understand."
The Jonin senseis began going around to each group of genin and testing them in their own respective fields. Kurenai found that Sakura, Ino, Shino, and Shikamaru would be great at genjutsu. Kakashi found that Shikamaru was way ahead of everyone in strategy, but Shino, Neji, Sasuke, and surprisingly Naruto were very good as well. Sakura was the best out of the girls. Asuma found that Sasuke, Lee, and Tenten were the most suited for swords, while Gai found some other weapons that might fit the other genin if they so chose to have a weapon. Gai found the genin all had an adequate knowledge of their taijutsu for how long they have been out of the academy.
The jonin senseis let the genin have an hour break to eat lunch and to talk with the other genin.
"Who do you think that other squad is Shikamaru?" Naruto asked as he sat down to begin eating his instant ramen that he had brought.
"Well I have never seen any of them before and they appear to be older than we are. Also one of them appears to be a Hyuuga, so I think he must be related to Hinata. If I had to guess I would say they graduated a year ahead of us. They must be Team 9, because Iruka had said Team 9 was still in circulation."
"I'm going to go introduce myself to them." Naruto said as he got up and approached the other squad.
As Naruto began to approach Team 9, all the genin watched him to see what he was doing. They were curious as to what Naruto was going to do. The ones that had had class with him thought he might be pulling a prank or trying to test out a new seal.
"Hey guys, I'm Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto said with his hand extended towards the team.
"What a youthful gesture! My name is Rock Lee. I can see that your flames of youth burn brightly" Lee exclaimed.
'What is with this guy?' all the genin present who did not know Lee thought.
"Uh, calm down bushy brows, I was just saying hi."
"I am Tenten" the lone female member said as she stood to shake Naruto's hand.
"I am Neji Hyuuga. Please leave us alone as we are trying to eat."
"I was just trying to be nice. I don't know why you have to be a dick about it." Naruto responded.
"You are weak, I can tell by just looking at you. I am only here because my sensei told me I needed to be. You are nothing compared to me. I do not have time to waste here talking with you. Let's go guys." Neji said as he turned to his team and began to walk away to eat their lunch in peace.
Tenten and Lee turned around and looked like they wanted to say sorry to Naruto, but just put their heads down and walked away following Neji.
Naruto returned to his squad and began finishing his lunch. "What the hell was that? I was only trying to be nice."
"Maybe he realized you were a dobe?"
"Shut it teme"
"I have heard about Neji Hyuuga. He was last year's rookie of the year and is rumored to be the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan. I believe he is from the Branch house though, so that may be where is animosity comes from" Shikamaru said.
"Animosity? What's that?" Naruto asked.
"Anger, Naruto." Shikamaru said. Sometimes he forgot Naruto didn't read as much as the other kids did.
The genin ate the rest of their lunch and talked amongst themselves for the rest of the hour. Once the hour was up the Jonin sensei's all reappeared.
"Alright everyone, now that lunch is over we are going to begin the real training. Now it seems that I am the only sensei who has tested my genin for their elements so I want all of you to take a piece of this paper and channel some chakra into it. From there we will be able to tell your elements.
If the paper becomes soggy you have a water element, if it becomes crinkled you have a lightning element, if it becomes dust you have an earth element, if it gets cut you have a wind element and if it becomes ash you have a fire element. Now here everyone take a piece."
"Kakashi-sensei, Hyuuga's are not allowed to learn ninjutsu outside of the three required for the academy" Neji said.
"Usually you are correct Neji, but the Hokage has talked with Hiashi-sama and he has allowed you and Hinata to learn elemental ninjutsu as long as you maintain your studies in the Hyuuga style. This goes for all the clan heirs. You will all be able to learn elemental manipulation as long as you keep up with your clan techniques."
Kakashi handed all the genin a piece of paper for them to take. Kakashi even handed one to Kiba's dog, Akamaru.
"Now I want all of you to channel a bit of chakra into it. Don't be surprised if you have two elements. Sasuke and Naruto here both have two elements."
"But Kakashi-sensei, what about me? I cannot use my chakra." Lee asked.
"Well Lee, I figured you would be concerned, but your disease does not limit you having chakra, just using it outside of your body. You are able to use the tree walking and water walking exercise correct?"
Lee nodded.
"Then channel a little bit of chakra as if you were going to use the tree walking exercise but channel it to your hand."
"I will try Kakashi-sensei"
All the remaining genin began to channel their chakra into the pieces of paper they had. Ino, Sakura, and Hinata were all water types. Tenten and Kiba were fire types. Lee and Neji were both lightning types. Choji was an earth type. Shino surprisingly had two elements, fire and earth. Akamaru was a wind type.
"Well it looks like we have a few of every type here. I am surprised that you have two affinities Shino, and even a fire one at that. I don't think I have ever heard of an Aburame having a fire element before. Akamaru being a wind type was a surprise. Kiba if you and Akamaru somehow incorporate those elements into you could deal some major damage.
Now that everyone knows their elements we are going to spend a little bit of time going over how each element is used and what their weaknesses are and what their strengths are. We will also being showing you the first stage to elemental manipulation. We will work on elemental training every day when as we rotate among groups. Each day you will spend a little bit of time working with each of the jonin present to help hone your skills. "
The genin listened intently to Kakashi and the other jonin explain the pros and cons of each element and how each could be incorporate into different areas of the ninja arts. By the end of the day all the genin were tired from being lectured about elements and thought they had somehow been brought back to a boring academy lecture.
"That will cover everything for today. Tomorrow we will be working with you all individually and start working on your weaknesses in each area. I want all of you back here tomorrow at 8. We will train until 2 and then you will do team training and missions with your teams at that time." Asuma said to the genin.
The genin got up and began to disperse and go their separate ways.
"Well that wasn't too bad. I was expecting different. I am surprised that all the girls minus Tenten are water elements. Shino having a fire and an earth element was shocking as well." Kurenai said.
"Indeed, the flames of youth burn brightly in that one" Gai said.
'Shino barely said anything all day' the other jonin thought.
"Let's head back to the Hokage's office, we don't want to keep him waiting" Asuma said. With that all four jonin disappeared as they raced to the Hokage's office.
(Hokage's office)
The Hokage was sitting in his office patiently waiting for Kurenai, Asuma, Kakashi, and Gai to return from training the genin. He was curious as to how the day went and how they felt the training would go. He had to make weekly reports to the council on the new training regime to see if it was something to be incorporated for future genin. As the Hokage was leaning back in his chair he could feel a presence outside of his window and another quickly approaching.
"Ah Hokage-sama it appears I was the first to arrive. How youthful." Gai said as he appeared in front of the Hokage, quickly followed by Kurenai and Asuma appearing together
"Actually Gai you were the second to arrive. Kakashi you can come out now. I can sense you outside the window."
"Kakashi, my eternal rival, how did you beat me here?"
"Huh, you say something Gai?" Kakashi said as he climbed through the window putting his book away.
'Damn him and his hip attitude.'
"Kakashi, Gai, leave your rivalry until after this meeting. I would like to know about the new genin and the training program"
The Hokage sat and listened to each of the Jonin tell him how the genin ranged in their fields and what they needed to work on. He was glad that the genin were willing to undergo this new training. He was surprised to hear that three of them had two elements. For ones so young to have two elements was unusual unless they had a bloodline, but none of them had elemental bloodlines.
"Hokage-sama I was wondering how you got the clans to agree to let us teach the clan heirs elemental jutsu. They have never before, they always relied on clan techniques." Kakashi asked.
"Well Kakashi, it was not easy and I was met with a lot of trouble, but eventually I won out and the clans decided to agree. I was very shocked with who I had support from though."
(Flashback, Council Meeting 2 weeks prior)
"Why have you called this council meeting, Hokage-sama?" Danzo, one of Sarutobi's advisors asked. Danzo was not a fan of Sarutobi, having beaten him for the title of Hokage. Danzo had made sure to stand in Sarutobi's way as much as he could without it hurting the village.
"I'm glad you asked Danzo-sama. I have called this meeting because I wish to start a new training program with our current genin."
Suddenly the council chambers were a live with all the clan heads trying to speak at once and the elders being shocked that the Hokage would try to change the genin's training regime.
"What is wrong with the system we have now?" Homaru asked the Hokage.
"The system we have now is not enough. We are not preparing our genin enough for their duties once they become chunin. I believe that once a ninja has reach chunin level he should have a good understanding of most of the ninja arts and be ready to choose his path. For the past few years our chunin have had to choose their path and learn more of the ninja arts once they have become chunin. I believe if we spend more time with them as genin learning the basics of each art then by the time they make chunin we will have more well rounded chunin."
Many of the clan heads nodded. They could see why the Hokage would want to have the genin become more well rounded earlier on. It was easier to learn things as a genin because you had more time and the missions weren't as demanding.
"What type of arts would the genin be learning?" Tsume Inuzaka asked
"I am glad you asked Tsume-san. I will have the Jonin of Teams 7,8,9 and 10 all teach their respective genin along with the other teams' genin. They will rotate being senseis and each be able to teach the genin what they want. This would include taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, kenjutsu, hijutsu (medical jutsu), strategy, and possibly even fuuinjutsu if the genin were interested."
"You want our genin to learn elemental techniques? What about their clan techniques?" Koharu asked
"I would have them be learning both. I have felt that the clans have relied too heavily on their clan techniques. Sooner or later our ninja will run into someone who can counter their clan techniques and then what would happen? They would surely lose against that opponent. I do not want that to happen. If we allow our genin know to start incorporating elemental ninjutsu into their library of jutsu they will be better. They will also still be required to learn all of their clan techniques."
The clan heads were split on the idea. Shibi Aburame, Shikaku Nara, and Inoichi Yamanaka all were for teaching their kids elemental jutsu. Tsume Inuzaka and Chouza Akimichi were both against it at this point. The only one who had not decided anything yet was Hiashi Hyuuga. The council members were split on the issue. Danzo and Homaru were against the idea, while Koharu was for the idea.
The council argued for over ten minutes on the pros and cons of having the genin learn elemental jutsu on top of the clan techniques that they would learn. Some felt it would be too much for the genin to handle, while others thought the clans did rely too heavily on techniques and maybe adding elemental jutsu would help strengthen the techniques they knew know.
"This arguing is not getting us anywhere. I want to vote on this issue."
The Hokage was not allowed to vote so he hoped that the clan heads saw that this would ultimately help their clans.
As the vote went around the room, it came down to Hiashi Hyuuga who had the last and final vote. Right now it was tied at 4-4. Hiashi was the deciding vote.
"Hiashi-sama what is your vote?" The Hokage asked. The Hokage knew he was going to be shot down because it was known far and wide that the Hyuuga only relied on their family taijutsu.
Hiashi looked around the room closed his eyes for a moment. 'Brother I wish you were here right now. You always knew what to do concerning the clan. Do I allow Neji and Hinata to learn elemental ninjutsu? I know that is something you had wanted. I knew you had worked on elemental jutsu privately for years. I even guess that you included it into your fighting. Do I go against what the clan elders will want?'
"Hiashi-sama? Are you ok?" the Hokage asked
"Forgive me Hokage-sama. I was just thinking about something. I am sorry for the delay. On this matter of allowing our children to learn elemental jutsu on top of their clan techniques, my vote is yes."
The other clan heads were shocked. The ones who voted no thought for sure that Hiashi would side with them and the ones who voted yes were even more shocked because they knew how strict the Hyuuga clan was.
"Hiashi-sama are you sure?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama. I am. I owe this to my brother. He always said he felt we relied too heavily on our jyuuken and we needed to branch out. I am beginning to think he was right. I will allow Hinata and Neji to participate in this new training"
Once the clan heads who had said no heard that Hiashi was going to allow Hinata and Neji to participate in the training, their minds eased a bit. If Hiashi Hyuuga, the head of the Hyuuga clan was going to allow his daughter and nephew to participate then they would as well. The Hyuuga clan was known for being the most strict, and they did not want to be the ones to take on that title.
"With that vote it is decided that this new training will take place. I am going to implement the training in about 2 weeks time. This way the new genin will have time to get accustomed to their team and have some time to train with them. I will have the jonin senseis give me weekly reports from the group training and we can gauge the results from those."
With that Sarutobi ended the meeting and allowed everyone to process the new information.
(Flashback end)
"Wow. I am surprised that it was Hiashi-sama who was the deciding vote. I thought for sure he would have not wanted this" Kurenai said to those in the room
The others all nodded, knowing the reputation that preceded the Hyuuga Clan Head.
"I want you all to continue working with the genin for the next week and we will assess the results at the end of the week. You four are dismissed" The Hokage said to his four jonin who all disappeared from his sight.
"You can come out now Jiraiya, I know you are there" The Hokage said into the air.
Jiraiya suddenly materialized in the room after dropping his Chameleon Jutsu.
"We need to talk sensei. I have found out some news about Orochimaru"
A/N: Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger but I just couldn't help it. Hope you guys like the chapter. I will try to update again this week before school starts back up. If you have any ideas on what could be added please let me know. Next chapter Naruto and his team will be going on a mission outside of the village and it will not be the wave mission. It will be one of my own creations. Until then.