Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Team 7's Ascension
Chapter V – Plant the Seed V
Sakura's face lit up in an expression of happiness – still a bit dimmed through exhaustion though – as the large gate of Konoha's main entrance entered her view. How much had she longed for this in the last four months... a warm bath, something delicious to eat, a comfortable bed.
She glanced at her teammates and found that their expressions mirrored her own – the anticipation of their respective homes was palpable around each of the Genin.
Only a few more minutes, ten at most, and then she would be home. The word melted on her tongue like sweet, sweet chocolate. It felt alien, too, but that was due to her sadistic sensei who had kept her from Konoha for the last sixteen weeks. Sakura ignored the strange sensation and kept on running.
Home...
The same thoughts went through Naruto's mind as he closed in on the last mile toward his village. Yet, he was more cautious than his pink-haired teammate. His relief over looking upon Konoha was overshadowed by the distrust Kakashi had instilled in him during the last months.
Naruto knew that he was only able to waste time thinking about his home because his Jōnin-sensei let him. Kakashi hadn't attempted an attack on Team 7 even once during their time in the woods as they learned how to walk on water.
It was out of the norm... and that made him wary.
He exchanged a few looks with Sasuke and saw the same concern in his charcoal black eyes. They sparked with suspicion – subtly hidden behind a veil of indifference and arrogance.
Only half a mile now until they would reach the gate, and with each passing second Naruto hardened himself.
Then Kibakufuda, wrapped around three kunai, suddenly lit up in front of them.
Without missing a beat, Sasuke changed his direction to the left – unfortunately away from the village gate. Naruto had barreled into Sakura and jumped away with her to follow the Uchiha, barely escaping the blast of the explosion.
Rat bastard, Naruto thought and bit his lower lip painfully as three small shrapnel from the kunai entered his flesh with high velocity. They ripped right through the kimono-kilt he had fashioned himself. Blood quickly soaked through the fabric, mixing with the already existing stains of mud and waste.
Kyuubi would take care of it... sooner, or later.
His train of thought was broken when he felt Sakura wind out of his grip – she had finally started to realize the situation they were in, it seemed. He saw a pair of thankful, green eyes, but was surprised when they widened minutely and he felt himself being shoved away a split second later.
Naruto flew through the air and saw five shuriken impact on the branch Sakura had pushed him away from. His gut and experience told him that he had about three seconds before he'd impact on the ground.
Enough to see that Sasuke had slowed down a bit , preparing himself to save him, and that Sakura had nearly caught up to the Uchiha.
Naruto grinned. He wasn't useless anymore, no matter what anyone else said, and his team supported him.
That was all he needed.
After a rapid seal sequence he muttered, "Ninpō: Kawarimi no Jutsu."
The blond vanished as he was mere feet away from impact – a single kunai fell to the ground with a thud as metal met wet grass.
Naruto reappeared next to the Uchiha in a crouching position.
Sasuke, who had previously hammered a kunai into the branch to give his teammate something to substitute himself with, sighed in relief. He glanced to his right. Sakura was there, too. Their team was complete, alert, and assembled at one place...
… so far, so good.
The forest was silent, until another wave of shuriken and kunai sped toward them. Team 7 parried some, but evaded the most by dodging around and hiding behind obstacles like trees and stones – basically everything that lent itself toward protecting them from the onslaught of multiple weapons was used.
Naruto slid underneath a fallen tree and quickly dove forward to avoid a few projectiles. He rolled a bit, then righted himself up in one swift move and continued to run – Sasuke and Sakura right beside him, having chosen other ways around the tree.
"... and I had really started to like him after the last few weeks," Naruto huffed, exhaling harshly.
"Don't talk, Naruto. Save your energy," Sakura advised , quickly swerving to the right to escape a small, compact fireball that impacted on the branch.
Sasuke agreed with his pink-haired teammate. The principle of conserving energy was sound after all.
Still, he asked, "You know where he's herding us to, right?"
The mirrored grimaces told the Uchiha all he needed to know. Just as Sasuke had dreaded, their blasted Jōnin-sensei herded them directly into the direction of Ground 44.
Kakashi trailed several hundred feet behind his Genin, lazily juggling a shuriken over his knuckles. Meanwhile, his Kage Bunshin did their best to make Team 7's lives miserable.
Hatake Kakashi was an Elite Jōnin. He also took a special kind of sick pleasure from seeing his Genin suffer. Even better yet had been their expressions of despair when they noticed just where he had been leading them to – it was glorious.
It was a moment he had forever burned into his memory, courtesy of his Sharingan.
"Kakashi-sensei, can't we go home? I really need a shower..."
"Hn."
"Please..."
Kakashi smiled – a truly terrifying sight if there ever was one – and replied, "Why would you want to go home? There's much adventure to be had in this forest..."
They hadn't enjoyed the last few days... not one bit. He had made sure of that.
He wasn't just an Elite Jōnin. No, he was also a teacher who didn't hold back as much as he probably should when facing freshly graduated Genin. Every time something remotely close to guilt crept up in the emotionally stunted Jōnin though, he just had to remember two very important facts.
Firstly, results couldn't be argued with. It was a saying his father had often used when he was still among the living.
Secondly, the Hokage had made it unmistakeably clear that he'd be hanged and quartered should Team 7 fail. Thus, his motivation was purely self-serving.
Failure was not an option.
The Genin of Team 7 didn't enjoy it. In all probability, they hated it. Still, he found it amazing that they hadn't even thought about quitting – it was just as he had told the Hokage: the potential was there. In spades.
Kakashi had made an oath when he took on Team 7. It was an oath of commitment – he would draw out their potential, every last drag of it.
To that effect he had made them spar for insane amounts of time during the last week. Either with him, or against each other. His simulations of real combat situations had really run them ragged...
Taijutsu and stealth, conserving chakra and flinging Jutsu around like madmen – fights that could last only five minutes, but sometimes were artificially prolonged to last for hours. Always though, he chased them through the forest, fighting for their lives.
Kakashi had to admit that an old character flaw of his reared its head again, and it couldn't have appeared at a worse time for his Genin. It was simply delicious to smell their fear whenever they sighted him...
Yes, curiously enough, Team 7 unleashed old sadistic tendencies in him that had been buried since the end of the third shinōbi war.
It was also that kind of sadism that actually made him consider just what he could put his team through. It was said, after all, that adversary strengthened a person's character. There was one array of skills he hadn't used on his Genin just yet... perhaps it was time to test them in the third shinōbi discipline – Genjutsu.
He shunshined on top of a tree close to his students and wove a simple, one-layered illusion over Naruto. The blond should prove to be the most receptive victim for this subtle art. What came next was just like a scene from a movie. The rational part of Kakashi told him that there had been a very good reason why he had curbed his sadism in the past.
Team 7 was in the middle of a three-way sparring match, and the Genjutsu had just shown Naruto how the Uchiha completely gutted their pink-haired teammate with his ninja-to. In reality it was only a small scratch... still, the blond didn't know that.
"Bastard! Why did you do that?"
"?"
"Why?"
"What do you mean, dobe?"
Kakashi watched the events unfold and observed how an enraged Naruto sprinted toward Sasuke with the sole intent of killing him. He reasoned that the blond had only been further angered when the Uchiha acted clueless.
The two fought for a bit and Kakashi even uncovered his Sharingan to glimpse more of the abilities of his students. He noticed how Sasuke's eyes were opened wide as Naruto came on to him like a juggernaut, clearly aiming for vital areas.
Sakura stood by helpless as she watched how the blond maverick – who in his own right had become dear to her – tried to murder her other teammate. Then she applied her common sense and tried to understand what had happened.
She understood... eventually.
"Kai!"
Her shout and a rather big pulse of chakra dispelled the Genjutsu on Naruto, who stared in horror as he noticed that Sakura was still alive and that he had just tried to kill his teammate, and – perhaps – friend for nothing.
The assault ceased, but it was a little too late.
His last kunai had been thrown before the illusion was dispelled. It was his hardest and most accurate throw yet – his rage over Sakura's demise had been endless after all – and the kunai sped directly toward Sasuke.
Kakashi nearly cursed himself for his stupid Genjutsu, but then he bore witness to a stroke of luck like no other. His red eye zeroed in on Sasuke.
The Uchiha's eyes had widened nearly comically... he was well aware that he wouldn't be able to deflect the kunai in time, and that the aim and force behind it were truly lethal.
The kunai slowed down. He did too, it seemed.
His synapses started to fire at impossible speeds, processing the incoming pictures at ridiculous rates. Charcoal black eyes turned red and one comma appeared in each of them, spinning madly. He leaned to the side, his body barely catching up with his eyes.
A thunderous thud resounded next to him, ringing in his ears. The kunai was buried hilt-deep into the branch. Kakashi leaned back again and uttered a sigh of relief. He thanked his lucky stars for the timely activation of Sasuke's Sharingan. That was a development even he hadn't seen coming.
The next minutes were filled with honest and sincere apologies from Naruto after Sakura had calmed both of them down and explained just what had happened to them.
A strange feeling came upon Kakashi. It swelled in his chest as he watched the pink-haired girl teaching both boys how to counter illusions, going so far as to cast a harmless one on them so they could dispel it.
Was it pride he felt? How strange... warranted though, most definitely.
Kakashi wasn't a bad teacher. He was simply... unique.
Should the other Jōnin discover his draconian training methods though, they'd probably institutionalize him.
He thought back to his father's words and to the information he had subtly gathered about the other Genin teams currently active in Konoha.
Yes, results couldn't be argued with...
"Water..." Naruto gasped out laboriously.
He took in every gulp of air he could. His chest, hands, and feet hurt – his head even more so. All thanks to one single man who could have just as well be called a demon.
"Get it yourself," Sasuke replied just as exhausted.
Naruto turned his head around and took in the weary form of the Uchiha lying next to him. "Stream's too far away."
"Your Jutsu, dobe... you're the Suitōn user here."
The Uzumaki tried to gather the necessary energy, but failed miserably. "No chakra left."
"As if I'd believe that," Sasuke said and narrowed his eyes. "Use it. I'm thirsty."
The blond's head moved a bit. "I tell you, asshole. I can't. No chakra means no chakra. Besides, I think he broke my left hand."
"I swear, if you two don't shut the fuck up right now, I'll rip your balls off and stuff them down your throats. He can come back any moment!"
"Who is he?"
A painfully familiar voice echoed behind Sakura, and a shiver ran down her spine. There, in all his perverted glory, stood Hatake Kakashi – Butcher of Konoha, Fang of Vengeance, Bane of his Genin. His eye was curved in a smile.
"Ah well, it doesn't matter anyway," Kakashi told them. "Your time here is up. For the next two weeks I planned a few nice exercises... mock missions, if you will."
"Will we ever get the chance to go home?"
"Of course! One could get the idea that you think I'm withholding basic necessities from you."
"..."
Kakashi shook his head. "Now, don't be like that. You'll like it, I'm sure."
The three looked skeptical and in the end it was Naruto who stepped forward, tentatively asking the pertinent question Kakashi had waited for. "What exactly have you planned?"
"Here are three scrolls, each containing the instructions for one target. Your task is easy. Infiltrate the places, get me what I want – small things, don't worry – and in two weeks I'll come to see if you managed it."
"... and we can go home?"
Kakashi shrugged. "Well, if you want you could always stay here... no? Damn shame, but, well, do your best. I doubt you'll see me in the next two weeks at all. So good luck."
The Jōnin vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving three befuddled Genin behind who quickly marched out of the forest, finally making it to their respective homes after 4 ½ months.
Coming home after having been away for over four months was a strange experience. One he hadn't made before.
The distinct smell of stale air assaulted Naruto's nose as he opened the door to his small but comfortable two-room apartment. It had a small sleeping room with his bed – a western style one – a sitting room with a coffee table, an adjacent bathroom and the built-in kitchen.
His plants were there, too, of course. It wasn't much, and Elite Jōnin like his sensei probably lived far better than him, but it was home.
Naruto walked over to the window and opened it to let in the fresh air his apartment desperately needed. There were still a few things he had to accomplish before he could finally surrender himself to the soothing embrace of sleep.
Naruto chuckled. A few months ago, he'd probably would have chosen to ignore everything of importance...
Now though, he'd like to think that the time spent with his team, sensei, and even with the devious head adviser had made him more responsible, if only a bit. Possibly more mature, too, but that was debatable.
As the water for his beloved noodles cooked on the stove, he went into his bedroom and quickly changed the nearly six month old sheets. After Kakashi's hellish training, he was actually giddy to take a warm shower later and then simply laze around in his freshly made bed.
First things first though...
He walked over to his beloved Ukki, the plant his surrogate grandfather had gifted him as a consolation prize after he failed his first exam, and watered it.
"A shinōbi is to be responsible... on and off the battlefield. That also includes trying your best at the task your instructors set you. Don't worry though – I have the perfect way to help you."
"You do? Sweet!"
The Sandaime walked into a room separated from his office and returned with a small bonsai. "You might not believe me now, but this plant is essential for you to learn responsibility."
Sarutobi saw the lack of understanding in the young boy's face and elaborated, "Consider it a secret training exercise from my clan... care for it, and I am sure that soon enough you'll receive your first mission from me."
Naruto grinned as he remembered how upset he had been at first. He had seriously thought his Jiji was yanking his chain. In the end though, the old man had been right just like always. Only now did he start to understand what his grandfather had wanted to teach him. Ukki had been – and hopefully always will be – a delightful companion.
Despite her being a plant.
Then again, at the time the Hokage confronted him with the plant, Naruto hadn't even known what the word responsibility meant. He had looked it up later on, and was rather disappointed to discover that it wasn't a super secret technique.
After Ukki had been watered, he sat down and filled the boiling water into his cup of ramen.
He frowned. Something was missing... being home just didn't feel the same anymore.
It was a rare moment of absolute contentment. Sasuke let himself go and uttered a satisfied sigh.
Silence.
Beautiful, untarnished silence. No fan-girls, no losers, no sadistic sensei... just him. Him and his beloved tomatoes. It was glorious. Well, it was as glorious as it could be with Itachi still among the living...
… and it felt strange.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and viciously stabbed a tomato slice with his chopstick. He held it close to his face, absently noticing the red juice dribbling off it and into the bowl of rice on the table below.
Why did he feel strange though? By all accounts he should be happy. It was puzzling.
Sasuke found that he didn't like puzzles... even if he was clearly superior in solving them, being an Uchiha and all.
A thought sparked through his mind and he growled. He knew the feeling... had felt it once before – in Ground 44. For a moment he sat silently and stared blankly at the tomato. Then he violently cursed the Hatake and his thrice-damned teachings about teamwork.
The bastard had done it... had really managed to corrupt him.
Him! An Uchiha!
Sasuke groaned. This was the last thing he needed in his life right now: stressful attachments and the unnecessary fear of being alone. A small part of his mind had to acknowledged the superiority of the Jōnin's tactics though...
If the two weeks together in the forest hadn't forged some bonds, then the last 1 ½ month sure as hell did. Even before that, they had shared a mutual bond of suffering and pain under the man's oppression.
He damned his sensei to hell for making him feel this way. He had become so used to the constant presence of his teammates that it simply felt strange being away from them.
Sakura put her ruined sandals next to the doormat and lifted it slightly, easily finding the key her father had hidden beneath it. She rolled her eyes as she inserted it into the keyhole and opened the door.
Even an academy student could break the basic lock they had – not to mention what a dedicated shinōbi could do – and she had told him that numerous times before. In the end it didn't matter though. Her father was nothing of not set in his beliefs, be they good or bad for the village. Nothing she could say would ever change his outlook on life.
She walked by a picture of the grand-parents she had never met and smiled sadly. She hadn't been born yet, when they had been ambushed by shinōbi and her father decided that a village full of those would be the safest place for his family.
It made sense from a certain point of view... reverse logic, she supposed.
Sometimes she wondered if her father had simply let go of all his hatred for shinōbi, the deceiving shadows who killed without remorse. It would make him a far greater man than she believed him to be.
A sad statement if there ever was one. She knew that this was unlikely, and that her father probably hid his distaste, letting it fester inside of him.
Sakura frowned when she thought back. She certainly hadn't helped matters along with her wish to join the academy. Especially that shortly after her mother, Mebuki, had died in Suna during another ambush.
She was still suspicious about that one. Who killed a civilian on one Suna's markets who had only been sight-seeing?
Her father would never understand why she became a shinōbi – to clear once and for all who murdered her mother.
Sakura still remembered his furious expression after she had told him of her wish. That evening she had cried herself to sleep, and – curiously enough – on the next morning her father acted as if nothing had happened at all.
He had accepted her wish and enrolled her in the academy...
… and it had symbolized the end of their father-daughter relationship as she knew it.
Sakura sighed and walked deeper into the house. It was empty as usual. Since that morning her father rarely came home, opting instead to stay at his office to direct the rising economical might of their civilian clan.
Had it been under different circumstances, she would have been proud of he father for making him so invaluable to the rich and powerful of Konoha.
She walked over to the kitchen table and dejectedly noticed a small satchel filled with coins.
It was the usual amount he left behind whenever he intended to remain in the office for a week or longer. Perhaps that was his way of caring... but, sometimes, she felt that it simply wasn't enough. Sakura knew how ungrateful she was, especially considering the lives of her teammates, but she dearly missed her father.
The man who once upon a time had put her on his shoulders and told tales about his long travels on the roads that cut the Elemental Countries.
She remembered the words of her demonic sensei and the frown on her face eased somewhat. The Jōnin was right, she supposed: Team 7 was now more of a family than her father had ever been since she became a shinōbi.
"Have you found something?" Sasuke asked.
"No guards... just like the scroll said. This stinks," commented the blond.
Sakura looked at her teammates and nodded. "Agreed, this is far too easy. He would never make it this simple..."
Naruto scratched his chin – first blond stubble had crept up randomly over the last months – and peered into the darkness that surrounded the old warehouse. "You're right. Especially not if he only gave us three targets for the next two weeks. If that's all we have to accomplish, then we'd be done in one or two days."
"Dobe's right," Sasuke said and shifted his weight slightly. "This reeks of deception."
"Reeks of deception?" Naruto asked, taking offense at the word dobe. "Who'd say something like that, asshole?"
"I said-"
"Stop it. Both of you. Sasuke, what's the target again?"
The Uchiha grumbled a few words of choice under his breath, but relented after seeing the stare of his pink-haired teammate. "A bell. All three targets are bells."
"At least that rules out that he really wants to betray the village. He can't do much with bells."
Sakura nodded. "True. I'd be far more suspicious if it were scrolls or something like that. Only an idiot would steal a scroll from his own village; commands from a superior be damned."
"... anyway," Naruto interrupted smoothly; the discussions had gone into a direction he wasn't exactly comfortable with. "We can't do much besides walking in and getting the bell that way. Sensei taught us nothing that would help in such a situation."
"Hn."
Naruto smirked. "Let's do it then. Bastard concurs."
The resulting shove he received from the Uchiha sent him flying from the branch they sat on, but didn't unbalance him enough not to be able to catch himself. Naruto leaped between the branches and saw his teammates follow until all three Genin of Team 7 stood behind the warehouse, concealed by the shadows of the night.
"Sensei underestimates us," Sakura huffed in annoyance.
Two bells were already tied to her utility belt.
In the last two days Team 7 had raided two of the three warehouses, both of which hadn't been defended at all besides some minor traps. It irked them more than they would ever admit, but they couldn't shake the feeling that Kakashi was severely underestimating their skills.
… which was strange in itself.
"Maybe that's his way to give us a vacation?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "I mean, come on... this is pathetic."
"I don't care. Let's get the last bell and finish this mission," Sasuke said, carelessly spinning a shuriken on his finger.
The three Genin entered the warehouse and after not even seeing the minor traps that had protected the previous ones, marched straight to the backside and took the bell. Sakura quickly tied it to her belt, too.
"... I don't get it. Kakashi's like the devil with training. Why make us do this stupid stuff for some bells?" Naruto asked.
Rustle.
The Uzumaki's ears twitched when he heard a noise that definitely hadn't been made by his teammates.
"Cover. Fast," he whispered harshly.
They quickly hid behind some crates waiting for something to happen, when Sasuke too heard a sound he knew all too well.
Sizzle.
"Oh sh-"
Then all hell broke loose.
A small explosion – undoubtedly caused by a level one Kibakufuda – sent the Uchiha flying and had Naruto not reacted as fast as he did in catching him, then Sasuke would've been impaled by the dozens of shuriken now littering the floor.
Sakura landed next to them and fended off another salve of projectiles with a kunai, letting those that weren't on direct impact course with her teammates fly by.
"Who the hell-"
Clang.
"... rigs traps like this?"
"You know who," Naruto grunted.
He covered the pink-haired girl as best as he could with his own thrown shuriken, intercepting the incoming projectiles.
Sizzle.
"Seriously? Ninpō – Kawarimi no Jutsu."
They escaped major damage, but still weren't fast enough to completely evade the blast – this one considerably larger than the last one. Sasuke looked at the singed hem of his shirt and frowned.
Damn Kakashi...
"Is this..."
Sakura's frightened voice brought him out of his vengeful thoughts and he quickly turned around, blanching when he saw what had alerted her. The tag in front of them – hanging from the ceiling on a thin wire – was glowing blue, the kanji on it clearly visible.
Neither Sasuke, nor Sakura were masters of Fuinjutsu. Hell, they weren't even novices... but it wasn't all that hard to interpret a tag with the word Katōn written on it.
"Dobe?" Sasuke hissed frantically.
"On it," Naruto replied, racing through hand seals. "Suitōn – Semai Mizushuuha."
The blond's seal sequence ended with the Tori seal and a stream of water shot toward the Katōn tag, meeting the suddenly erupting torrents of fire head-on. Beads of sweat rolled down his brow, and not for the first time did Naruto wonder why this technique, which was by nature only a D-Ranked Suitōn Jutsu, took that much effort and taxed his reserves more than ten Kawarimi combined.
The stream of fire still hadn't ended, but Naruto noticed that his water slowly but surely pushed it back. "What the hell is this? Bastard, you're the pyromaniac here..."
Sasuke edged closer to the now nearly extinguished fire. "I'd say it's the Chiisai Endan. Should be D-Ranked like your Jutsu."
The pink-haired girl watched the proceedings absently and narrowed her eyes. Again, Naruto had used a Suitōn technique without any source of water nearby. To her finely tuned senses the amount of chakra he had poured into it stood out like a beacon.
Before she could contemplate things further though, Sakura saw her teammates slump to the ground.
Then, darkness claimed her, too.
When Sakura woke up, she instantly noticed that she was bound to something with shinōbi grade wire – in a way that not even the Nawanuke no Jutsu would help her to escape. Next to her, she heard the even breathing of two males approximately her age.
Naruto and Sasuke...
She slowly opened her eyes, but immediately closed them again. The picture was simply too horrid.
All three Genin of Team 7 were bound to stumps while Kakashi sat in front of them, his lone eye observing them calculatingly.
He didn't look pleased.
"That... was disappointing," Kakashi began as soon as Naruto and Sasuke had regained their consciousness. "Never, and I mean absolutely never become complacent on a mission."
"Ugh... ne, Kakashi-sensei, did you knock us out?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi negated the question with a shake of his head. "No. Senbon coated in non-lethal, paralytic poison knocked you out."
He gave them the silent treatment for a few minutes, letting them fidget in their bindings, before he continued, "I arranged this for a reason. Each mission is potentially vital for the village... carelessly approaching an objective just because the two before that were easy won't cut it."
Then he sighed and amended, "At least you showed some teamwork... that's probably the only good thing that came out of this exercise."
Kakashi rose from his seated position and stretched. "Ma, you failed unfortunately, and we still have a few days left until your original deadline for these mock missions is over... as punishment, you'll have to get out of these bindings yourself. Tomorrow... tomorrow we're going to start remedial training."
Sasuke frowned. "Remedial training?"
"Exactly," Kakashi declared happily. "Powerful techniques and superior Taijutsu won't do anything for you if you lack common sense... something you demonstrated quite clearly yesterday night. Well, I'm off. Ja ne."
Remedial training – as Team 7 soon learned – wasn't just more boring than Iruka's lessons at the academy... it was also more exhausting.
Having freed themselves a few hours after their sensei left, they had speculated about what Kakashi would teach them – mostly thinking of refining their basics like the Kawarimi, Bunshin, Nawanuke and Henge.
Kakashi though had a vastly different idea and took great pleasure in telling his team that the training would consist of lessons about village-, and mission-protocols: in cases of emergencies as well as day to day occurrences, on how to correctly fill out the necessary paperwork for anything that might come their way eventually, on Konoha's basic hierarchy, and on some of the building and structures that should be known to every shinōbi rank Genin and upwards.
Those buildings were mostly hidden supply stores though. Anything else was still above their pay-grade.
It wouldn't have been too bad, even if slightly sleep-inducing, if their sensei hadn't had the brilliant plan to further use that time to train up their endurance, stamina and control.
No, none of the three Genin could say that it was fun to answer questions and discuss such boring topics while doing crunches – hanging from a tree and with several leaves stuck to their brows.
"Standard protocol for identification of foreign shinōbi seen in the village?" Kakashi asked after noticing that Naruto had completed another two hundred crunches.
"Asking for their papers and their purpose in the village. If they check out, let them pass; if they are suspicious, inform your immediate superior; should they be unable to identify themselves, apprehend them," Naruto answered, gasping.
Kakashi nodded. "Correct," he said. "Sakura, who is the quartermaster of Konoha regarding Genin level seal tags, and where else can you buy them?"
Sakura huffed, her face red in exhaustion. "The quartermaster is Ozayo Kenshin, Special Jōnin. If issued a writ by a Jōnin-sensei, he will equip a Genin with the appropriate seals free of charge. Other supply stores don't need orders from a sensei, but you have to pay there. They can be found next to the hospital, near each gate, next to the academy and in the basement of the Hokage Tower."
"Good work. Very precise. Sasuke, you're next. How do you formally ask for a promotion?"
"Ask for the paperwork and fill in the dotted lines..."
"... and fifty more crunches for everyone, my cute little minions. Now, the right answer?"
The glares Sasuke received from his teammates spurred him on to answer correctly this time, "Submit the necessary papers, including the recommendation of your superior..."
Sasuke hastily did another crunch, barely evading a kunai Kakashi had thrown before he continued, "... afterward the request will be reviewed by the Hokage and a small panel of judges. If the promotion is merited, the shinōbi will then be tested in every aspect of the shinōbi arts that have a bearing on his new rank."
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Kakashi smiled cheerfully. "Naruto, you're up again. Tell me about the different divisions of Konoha's shinōbi force."
"Do I have to?" Naruto asked, but the five shuriken his sensei spun lazily around each finger made him reconsider his original course of action. "Well, there are seven divisions..."
"Which are?" The Hatake's eye gleamed evilly.
Naruto gulped. "The Jinmon Butai takes care of gathering intelligence through torture and interrogation. Jōhōbu is responsible for getting information outside of the village, as well as spreading counter-intelligence. The Jinmon Butai and Jōhōbu work closely together."
"Correct. That's two... Sasuke?"
The Uchiha sighed. "The third division, Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, for short ANBU, is way above our clearance. Eisei Butai, the medical corps, are led by the head of the hospital – Elite Jōnin Yakushi. They're responsible for taking care of Konoha's general state of health, as well as providing trained Iryō-nin for critical missions."
"And that leaves the last three for Sakura..."
"Ningu Kenkyūsho, the research division, is split in many sub groups developing different things – new weapons, new seals, or whatever the village needs. The largest division, the regular military, consists of the usual four man cells undertaking various missions that don't fall into the categories of the other divisions."
"The last one? Come on, Sakura, you're nearly finished," Kakashi actually laughed when he peppered them with another wave of shuriken, this time multiplied by the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.
Sasuke, who noticed that his pink-haired teammate was fighting to stay conscious, volunteered the answer in a rare moment of compassion. The girl might have been annoying once, but training herself to the brink of chakra exhaustion... that was something he could respect.
"The Reserves aren't really an acknowledged division, but they're large in numbers. Shinōbi who are no longer fit for field duty due to injuries or age, are given positions within the village which need a certain level of clearance."
The silver-haired Jōnin nodded once and clapped his hands together. "You're done for the day and this marks the end of your remedial training. Take some time to relax and we'll meet up again tomorrow."
Kakashi jumped away, but Sasuke couldn't care less for the enigmatic Jōnin. The moment the training had ended, he saw that Sakura finally lost her battle against consciousness.
A small puff of smoke on her feet, indicating the dispersion of chakra, was all the incentive he needed. Sasuke pushed himself away from the branch he had anchored his feet to, and leaped after her, catching her shortly before both of them hit the ground in a tumbling mess.
Naruto landed next to them in a crouch. "You okay, Bastard?"
"Hn. Caught her."
"Let's go. I need a shower," Naruto said, taking Sakura from the Uchiha and carefully placing her on his back.
Sasuke wanted to follow, when his left leg suddenly gave away.
Damn it, must have fallen on it...
Another try brought the same result and the Uchiha cursed, reconciling himself with the fact that he'd have to sleep in the training ground tonight. He was surprised though, when the arm of his blond teammate reached out to his shoulder and steadied his exhausted body.
"Shit! Where do you live, Bastard?"
"... near my clan's old district."
He wouldn't thank the blond menace. He wouldn't.
"Kami, that's like miles away – completely different side of Konoha," Naruto replied and took another look at his two barely conscious teammates. "Come on, you can crash in my place. It's not too far away. Think you can manage till then?"
"Hn."
He wouldn't thank him...
For those who cared to look it was a curious sight: three bruised, battered, and exhausted Genin marched through Konoha supporting themselves as if they were one person. More than one citizen of the village wondered what kind of mission they must have undertaken to look like that.
"Naruto?"
"Mhh?" The blond looked up surprised. That was the first time he had heard Sasuke used his name.
Sasuke's lips twitched upward. "If you snore... I'll kill you. Slowly."
He wouldn't thank him...
… but he was thankful nonetheless.
AN: I wonder how many of you actually like Kakashi in his instructor role now. He's a character that sparks a lot of conflict in fanon after all.
Used Jutsu:
Ninpō – Kawarimi no Jutsu : E-Rank. Substitution/Replacement Technique.
Suitōn – Semai Mizushuuha : D-Rank. Small stream of water.
Katōn – Chiisai Endan : D-Ranked. Small stream of fire (In this chapter used as a seal).
Ninpō – Nawanuke no Jutsu : E-Ranked. Rope-escape technique (In this chapter only mentioned).
7 Divisions of Konoha:
I included it in the 'remedial training' part, but I think a short overview won't hurt.
#1. Jinmon Butai – Intelligence and Torture inside Konoha
#2. Jōhōbu –Intelligence network outside of Konoha
#3. Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai – ANBU/Black Ops ('nuff said)
#4. Eisei Butai – Medical Corps (Established after Tsunade vanished)
#5. Ningu Kenkyūsho – Research Department with various sub-groups
#6. The Regular Military – Genin, Chūnin, and Jōnin who don't fall in the categories 1-5
#7. The Reserves – Shinōbi who can't serve in the field anymore due to various reasons, but have the necessary clearance to staff important desk jobs in the village.