Kuushou walked through the Konoha gates a few hours later, ignoring the shocked and disbelieving looks he was drawing. One item he had neglected to bring on the mission was a change of clothing, so he was still wearing his slightly ripped and much more than slightly blood-stained orange jacket and pants. Anko walked beside him looking fresh as a daisy, arms tucked behind her head and chatting animatedly about the glorious wonders of the dango she was soon to consume.
"Damn, Naruto, what happened? Sharp kunai too much for you?" came the amused remark from Kiba. Despite his taunting words, there was a tinge of concern in his voice. As far as Kuushou knew the Inuzuka had gotten along well enough with Naruto, even if they hadn't exactly been friends.
Kuushou just shrugged in reply. "Just got back from a mission; it turned out to be," he paused, turning to Anko, "dirty, was it?"
Anko's eyes gleamed. "Very, very dirty," she purred, slinking up to his side and draping an arm around his shoulders. Kuushou stifled his laughter as Kiba's jaw dropped; it may be a different world but he was still just as amusing to mess with.
"And that bit at the end there," Anko continued, her voice rapturous, "that was just... explosive," she crooned, wrapping her arms around herself and swaying in place.
"You... she... but...," Kiba stuttered, his eyes wide.
"I'm hurt," Kuushou said, following Anko's lead, "I thought there were plenty of good bits in the seventeen hours before that."
"Oh, there were," Anko replied, having trouble containing her laughter now, "but none of that quite compared to the... finale."
Kuushou took one more look at the poleaxed expression on Kiba's face and lost it, bursting out laughing. Anko followed a moment later, and they ended up leaning on each other for support.
"Ah, screw you," Kiba snapped, realizing that they were messing with him. "Like you could actually get a mission anyway. You were lucky you managed to graduate at all."
Anko sobered quickly, her gaze snapping to Kiba. "Watch yourself, genin," she growled. "Blondie here has shed blood in defense of this village, which is a hell of a lot more than you can say."
"Yeah, right," Kiba said dismissively. "And who are you, anyway?"
Anko's eyes narrowed, but Kuushou waved her off before she could reply. "It's much more amusing if you let him dig his grave first. He'll just keep digging deeper and deeper and deeper, which makes the moment where you shove the dirt on top of him all the sweeter," he said lowly... though not so lowly that Kiba couldn't hear.
Anko's expression cleared, the amused glint returning to her eyes. "I like your style, blondie," she said. "Tell you what, you can treat me to dango."
"You mean you'll treat me to dango," Kuushou corrected as they walked away from Kiba, ignoring the Inuzuka's spluttering.
"I know what I said."
A few hours later a freshly bathed and fed Kuushou was standing in front of the Hokage along with Anko. The Hokage was currently rubbing his temples with his fingers and sighing.
"Tell me again why you felt it necessary to continue pursuing the enemy, Anko?" the Hokage asked plaintively.
"I made a judgment call in the field, Hokage-sama," Anko replied calmly. "Once we determined that the border patrol had been killed, I dispatched a messenger snake to alert Konoha about what we had found, then focused on tracking down those responsible."
"That's the part I don't understand," the Hokage said. "You had a genin with you and were about to engage an enemy that had taken out a full team of chuunin."
"Naruto had already proven himself in combat by that point, Hokage-sama," Anko said calmly. "I had no qualms about taking him into battle with me."
"What rank would you give his combat ability?" the Hokage asked.
"Triple-B-rank, sir, at least. It could be higher, but we didn't actually fight anyone who would merit it."
"Really," the Hokage said slowly. Kuushou noticed the old man's eyes looking at him appraisingly, but didn't respond.
"Yes, sir. He could still use some polish and refinement, but he has excellent situational awareness and does not hesitate to do what needs to be done. His use of ninjutsu coupled with his reserves is... well, lethal."
"I see," the Hokage said slowly. "And what happened when you found the group responsible?" he continued.
"Executed in the field, sir."
"Was it not possible to capture them?"
"I do not believe so, sir," Anko said firmly. "Given that the border had been essentially overrun, I deemed the area to be hostile and had no compelling reason to take prisoners under those circumstances."
"Why did you not return directly to Konoha after that?"
"I had already sent a message to apprise Konoha of our situation. After taking Naruto's combat ability into account, I believed we would be of more use neutralizing any enemy forces who attempted to enter the Land of Fire."
The Hokage sighed again. "I can't argue with the results," he said finally. "Initial reports indicate that your section of the border had the lowest number of successful incursions, and clearly both yourself and Naruto-kun survived the experience.
"I will credit both of you with a successful A-rank defense mission in addition to the C-rank you initially took," the Hokage continued. "For Naruto-kun, I will treat that as the two required B-ranks for his full promotion, which just leaves his C-ranks."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," both Anko and Kuushou replied.
"Unless there is anything else, you are dismissed."
"Actually, Hokage-jiji," Kuushou said quickly, shifting to a more informal tone, "there is one thing. What is the normal mission level to kill or capture a missing-nin?"
"It depends on the rank of the missing-nin," the Hokage said slowly. "An A-rank missing-nin would equate to a A-rank mission, and so on."
"In that case, I would like to turn in all of the bounties I acquired in the course of the mission now."
The Hokage's face was torn between amused and chagrined. "How many would that be, exactly?"
"Based on the latest copy of the Bingo Book, seven C-rank missing-nin and two B-rank missing-nin."
The Hokage just sighed again, while Anko burst out laughing and clapped him on the shoulder. "Congrats on the promotion, blondie!" she chuckled. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to get rid of me!"
Armed with a sudden excess of cash, Kuushou had acquired much better and more thorough equipment along with a change of clothing. The black shirt and black pants topped by his new chuunin flak vest also had the side effect of rendering him almost completely unrecognizable, if the lack of reaction he received as he moved around the village was anything to go by. Apparently the old Naruto had worn the orange clothing so long that people didn't think about what he looked like wearing something else.
That had also proven useful in acquiring different lodgings, as he had already moved into an apartment complex in the Shinobi District, one that was located only a few blocks away from the Yamanaka's house.
Some people could still recognize him easily enough, though, Kuushou noted sourly as he consumed another bowl of ramen; sitting next to him was the med-nin who had administered his test during the Hokage's evaluation. She had proven most tenacious about hounding him to come work for the hospital while simultaneously pulling yet more medical knowledge out of his head.
"I had the opportunity to try the technique you described on a patient yesterday," the woman, Mareko, said. "It worked perfectly, and I had to explain to the other surgeons that I hadn't come up with the technique myself. Now all of them want to meet you, so you really should stop by the hospital soon. Think of all the lives you could save with what you know and could teach us!"
Teuchi just looked on, a bemused smile on his face as he served up another bowl of ramen. Kuushou hadn't volunteered an explanation as to why he knew so much all of a sudden, and Teuchi hadn't asked.
"I'm saving lives out in the field as well," Kuushou pointed out. "The presence of a combat medic raises the survival rate of allied ninja sevenfold."
Mareko frowned. "I know that's what Tsunade-sama's research says, but not all med-nin's have her level of combat ability to go with their medical skills. Enemy ninja prioritize med-nin's and you are far more likely to die out in the field."
"Possibly," he began, but was interrupted by a voice from outside the stand.
"Naruto!" Kiba called out as he barged in. "I'm totally calling your bullshit! You didn't even show up for team assignments and your name wasn't called for any of the teams, so there's no way you were out on a mission before!"
"That so?" Kuushou replied, his tone clearly amused. Kiba apparently hadn't noticed his forehead protector or chuunin flak vest yet.
A squeak drew his attention outside the stand, where he saw Hinata blushing furiously and poking her fingers together. Shino stood beside her, his hands tucked into his coat and his face hidden by his collar as always.
Shino at least seemed nearly unchanged from his own world; his reserves were still smaller compared to the one Kuushou had known, but not nearly as much as compared to the others. For that matter Kiba was also closer to what Kuushou would expect, though he seemed more aggressive and impetuous.
Hinata, on the other hand, was astonishingly different. It was fairly obvious that this one also had a crush on him, but it seemed far more debilitating. Her reserves were a fraction of what he had expected, and the feeling of her chakra was... oppressed was the best way he could describe it. Her stutter also seemed to have grown worse here, rather than vanishing almost entirely as it had in his own world.
"A-Are you... alright, Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked slowly, finally managing to look directly at him.
"Of course, Hinata-chan," Kuushou replied. "Why wouldn't I be?" The girl didn't reply, instead squeaking again and ducking her face behind the collar of her large jacket.
"You appear to be wearing a chuunin vest, Uzumaki-san," Shino observed quietly.
"What?" Kiba barked. "That's bullshit!" Akamaru yipped, agreeing with his partner.
"Indeed I am," Kuushou replied, nodding towards Shino. He didn't say anything further.
"Who is this... rude person, Naruto-san?" Mareko asked, sniffing slightly.
"Kiba Inuzuka, a former classmate," Kuushou answered easily, smirking slightly.
"Well, Inuzuka-san, if you don't mind," Mareko bit out, "I was having a discussion with Naruto-san and don't appreciate being interrupted."
"There's no way you're a chuunin!" Kiba snapped, pointing an accusing finger. "You graduated dead last!"
Mareko stood abruptly, reaching into her pocket and setting a few bills on the counter to pay for her meal. "I suppose we shall have to continue this another time, Naruto-san, in more pleasant company. I'll be looking forward to it."
She then turned to Kiba, glaring. "For your information, Inuzuka-san, I took part in Naruto-san's evaluation and can tell you for a fact that he more than earned that rank on the basis of his medical knowledge alone. 'Dead last' indeed," she sniffed, and stalked out.
"But... he did!" Kiba said plaintively.
Kuushou laid a much larger stack of bills on the counter and stood himself. "Just keep digging, Kiba," he said. "I'll see you soon, Shino-san, Hinata-chan."
As he left, he heard Hinata remark, with much less stuttering, that "Naruto-kun seems different."
Neither of her teammates replied.
Responding to a knock, Kuushou opened the door to his new apartment to find the Hokage waiting patiently at the door, a small wrapped package held in one hand.
"Hey, Hokage-jiji!" Kuushou said, stepping back to clear the doorway. "What brings you here?"
"Hello, Naruto-kun," the Hokage said, smiling. "I heard about your new apartment and thought I might bring you a housewarming present. Congratulations!" he said, handing Kuushou the package.
"Thanks, Hokage-jiji!" Kuushou replied, smiling.
He led the Hokage into the plain living room and, once the old man had taken a seat, opened the package. Inside was a very nice picture frame, but what drew his attention was the picture it contained. In it, the old man was wearing his ceremonial robes and was leaning forward slightly with one hand resting on top of Naruto's head while Naruto was grinning widely and wearing the Hokage's ceremonial hat.
"We took that picture on his sixth birthday," Sarutobi said quietly. "He kept bragging that he would become Hokage one day, and I decided a little harmless indulgence wouldn't hurt." He chuckled. "I may have cemented that goal in his mind at that point, looking back on it." He turned to Kuushou. "Do you share that dream?"
Kuushou placed the picture on the coffee table and took a seat opposite the old man. "Not exactly," he replied. "My dream is about protecting my family and inventing new and amazing seals. I can't say I've given the position of Hokage a great deal of thought."
Sarutobi just nodded, looking vaguely sad. "Do you have any plans to decorate your apartment?" he asked next, breaking the brief silence that had fallen. "You chose a very good place, but it seems a bit... spartan."
Kuushou snorted internally, knowing what the Hokage was referring to. The furniture he had acquired in the apartment - which consisted of a living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and a small entrance way - was very basic and strictly functional, with one exception. The walls were painted in a faded white, and the few windows were covered with cloth that could, if one were feeling generous, be considered drapes. The only thing in the apartment that stood out was a large table, topped with immaculately polished marble, that occupied one entire wall of the living room. It wasn't obvious as no tools were present, but he would be using that for crafting seals.
"Not really," he replied, turning his attention back to the Hokage. "Should I?"
"I've always felt that putting a personal touch on my surroundings made me feel a lot more comfortable," Sarutobi said.
"Perhaps," Kuushou shrugged. "There is something that's been bothering me, though, and I would like to ask you about it."
"Of course, Naruto-kun, you can ask me anything," Sarutobi replied immediately.
"Why did you let Mitokado and Utatane get away with that?"
The Hokage frowned, leaning forward in his seat. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."
"With what they did during my test. They changed up the sealing portion and decided to invalidate the combat portion."
The Hokage's frown deepened. "Koharu and Homura have been my teammates and friends since I graduated from the Academy many, many years ago."
"That didn't answer my question," Kuushou said pointedly.
The Hokage sighed, wiping his hand over his face. "They did have alternative ideas for how the exam should be administered, yes."
"Which they implemented behind your back."
"In a way," the Hokage replied slowly.
"So I ask again, why did you let them get away with that? They essentially undermined your authority, in public, and no one besides myself even seemed to think anything of it."
The Hokage's frown deepened. He opened his mouth to reply, but Kuushou continued before he could.
"Then there was that scene in the office after I first left T-and-I. They just barged into the room without so much as knocking or asking permission, and proceeded to berate you and argue with you in front of me."
"They are my trusted advisers, Naruto-kun, it's expected that they would argue with me. It's because we have differing viewpoints that collectively we can find the best path that none of us individually would see," he said patiently.
Kuushou growled in annoyance. "I know that," he said. He wiped a hand over his face as he pondered how to get his point across. He normally wouldn't have bothered with something like this, but the Hokage was incredibly useful in his world and seemed to be one of the few allies he had in this world. He also hadn't overlooked how Koharu and Homura seemed to have little respect for Naruto and that they had very different ideas for how he should be handled, ideas that would likely conflict heavily with his own plans.
"Let me put it this way," Kuushou said finally. "In the few days that I have been here, I have personally seen those two act as if their orders carried more weight than your own, I have seen a chuunin under your command take direction from them rather than following the orders that came from you, and I have seen them do everything but call you an idiot to your face while I was in the room. That doesn't even begin to address what they may be doing that I haven't seen.
"And through all of that, you did nothing. What happened to you, jiji?"
The Hokage leaned back in his chair, an odd expression on his face. "How would you have expected me to respond?" he asked.
Kuushou stood from his chair and began pacing about the room, his hands and arms moving in sharp gestures as he spoke. "The jiji I know would never have let it get that far. The jiji I know would have pinned them to the floor with a glare and a sharp word, and they wouldn't have dared do it again. The jiji I know would have suspended any ninja who dared disobey his orders in such a manner."
"Are you suggesting that I should suspend Koharu and Homura?" the Hokage asked curiously. "That seems rather extreme, and they aren't even active ninja anymore."
"That's even worse!" Kuushou cried, whirling to face the Hokage. "What actual, official authority do they have over Konoha ninja?"
"They aren't part of the chain of command," the Hokage replied. "They advise me, nothing more."
"Really?" Kuushou asked. "Because that's not what it looks like to me. And if that's what I see after being here for just a few days, what does it look like to the ninja who have been here their whole lives?"
The Hokage was silent, that odd expression on his face as he studied Kuushou curiously. Kuushou left him to his thoughts, moving back to his seat and waiting for the Hokage's eventual reply.
After a few minutes of contemplative silence, the Hokage slowly stood from the couch and stretched his back slightly. "I will think on what you have said, Naruto-kun," he finally replied. "But for now, I need to get back to work. Do let me know when you decide to decorate, though; I may be able to recommend some good stores."
"I will, Hokage-jiji," Kuushou replied, escorting the Hokage to the door. "And thanks again for the present. He looks... very happy in that picture."
"You're welcome, Naruto-kun," Sarutobi replied, a small smile on his face.
"So, have you given what I said any thought?" Kuushou asked the next day as he took his seat in the Hokage's office.
"I have, but this meeting is about something else," the Hokage replied. "There have been some... questions raised regarding your suitability to teach the new genin."
"By their jounin-sensei, I assume?"
"Among others, yes," the Hokage replied.
"I can't say I'm surprised, but why am I here? I don't see how I could prove my ability without actually teaching anyone."
"A point I raised," the Hokage noted. "As a compromise, the various interested parties requested to observe the training sessions in order to judge your ability for themselves and make sure that what you are teaching does not conflict with their own plans."
Kuushou twitched, stifling his annoyance. "You want me to pander to an audience while I'm trying to teach kids who already aren't going to take me seriously? If their jounin-sensei is there observing, it's just going to make everything even harder for everyone involved."
"I brought up that point as well, though I phrased it more... delicately," the Hokage said, smirking. "If the observers agree to remain hidden, do you have any objections?"
"Many," Kuushou replied, "but as long as they don't interfere I'll deal with it for a single session."
"That's hardly going to be sufficient to show any real results," the Hokage pointed out.
"No, but that will be more than enough time to establish my credentials, so to speak. I believe that Team Kurenai is scheduled first?"
"That's correct."
"Good. Make sure Kiba gets the first session, and have all of the so-called observers attend. Invite any and everyone you like. In fact," Kuushou said, a wide grin on his face, "I insist. Oh, and don't tell Kiba who his teacher is going to be. I want that to be a surprise."
Kuushou grinned widely as he entered the training ground set aside for his sessions with the Clan Kids. The Hokage had come through on his promise, and he could sense nearly two dozen ninja gathered to observe Kiba's session. He could only name some of them, but the Hokage was there – along with his two advisers and Danzo – as were Kakashi Hatake, Gai Maito, Anko Mitarashi, Hiashi Hyuuga, Tsume Inuzuka and her partner Kuromaru, Inoichi Yamanaka, Shikaku Nara, Chouza Akimichi and Shibi Aburame.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
"Naruto?" Kiba asked, confused. "What the hell are you doing here?" The Inuzuka genin was currently standing in the middle of the clearing, looking annoyed, bored, and a little sleepy.
"I'm here for the training session, of course."
"Really? I was told this was going to be one-on-one, and I know I got the right place and time. Can't believe they're making us do this crap on our day off."
"Yep, you got the right place and time."
"Then why the hell are you here?"
Kuushou just waited, a grin slowly spreading across his face.
"No, seriously, why are you here?" Kiba repeated, motioning towards him. "Are there two teachers coming or something?"
Kuushou kept waiting, rocking back and forth on his feet as he stifled his laughter.
Kiba just stared at him for several seconds before his hand shot out, pointing incredulously at him. "Oh, fuck no. I have had it with your bullshit. There is no fucking way that you, the Dead Last, are supposed to be teaching me anything."
"And yet, here we are."
"Dude, that shit's not funny. I don't know why the hell they're letting you get away with wearing that chuunin vest, but you had best stop before someone catches you. Hell, I haven't even seen you out on assignments with any of the other genin teams. Did you get kicked out of the ninja force entirely?"
"Is it really that hard to believe that I could be a chuunin?" Kuushou asked curiously.
"Yes!" Kiba yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "Dude, I was shocked you actually managed to graduate at all! I mean, I'm happy for you and all, but, honestly? I didn't think you could hack it. Ever since then you've been acting like you're a complete badass and it's really starting to piss me off."
"Well..., you are honest, I'll give you that," Kuushou said finally. "Before I shove the dirt over you, I'll give you one chance to climb out of that hole you're in."
Kiba looked confused for a second before he rolled his eyes. "You're talking about what you said when you were hanging out with that hot chick near the gates."
"Yes...," Kuushou said lowly, laughter bleeding into his voice. "As a friendly warning, that 'hot chick' was a tokubetsu jounin overseeing my first C-rank mission, and you really don't want to piss her off. Now then, for your one chance – forget everything you think you know about me from the Academy and everything you may have heard about me from other people. I am a full-fledged chuunin and thus technically outrank you, and I am here to teach you practical combat skills."
Kiba just scoffed. "You never even got close to beating me in sparring," he said dismissively.
Kuushou shrugged. "Can't say I didn't warn you. Now then, first lesson: situational awareness."
Kiba opened his mouth to reply again, but suddenly found that he couldn't breathe as something slammed into his gut. As he folded over he saw another Naruto emerging from the ground, a smirk on his face. Akamaru latched onto this new Naruto's other arm, only to immediately let go and start barking.
Kiba staggered backwards, somehow managing to retain his feet as his breath slowly came back. "Dirt? When the hell did you make an earth clone? Since when can you make clones at all?"
"I did warn you," Kuushou said as he watched his clone completely emerge from the ground. "As for when, I made it before I even entered the clearing. It's been sitting under you the entire time we were talking."
Kiba straightened, flexing his hands as he stared at the clone before him. "You may have improved a little, but slightly improved worthless is still worthless," he growled. With that, he charged forward, his hands acting like claws as he swiped at the earth clone. Each blow ripped through the clone easily, and soon the entire thing lost cohesion.
"So much for that," Kiba smirked, settling into a stance.
Kuushou just nodded. "Your power is roughly C-rank, and your speed about the same. You are also not dropping your guard, which is a good sign."
Kiba growled again. "Like hell I'm going to give you another free shot. Akamaru!" His canine companion barked in acknowledgment, then both charged towards the blonde.
Kuushou watched them approach with his head cocked to the side. The two covered the short distance to him quickly, Kiba approaching from the left and Akamaru from the right. As they reached melee range, Kiba went low and swiped at his leg while Akamaru leapt much higher than seemed possible for his small frame, his claws menacing the blonde's face.
At the last moment, Kuushou twisted his body, allowing Akamaru to sail over him harmlessly while he focused his attention on Kiba. The Inuzuka still had the bad habit of overcommitting to his attacks and was unable to respond as Kuushou's other leg slammed into his side. Kiba's breath whooshed out of his lungs again and he was sent rolling several feet away before he managed to use his momentum to regain his footing.
"The fuck was that?" he wheezed. "You never moved that fast before."
"That's not even that fast, Kiba," Kuushou pointed out. It really wasn't, by his standards, and yet he was forced to reinforce his muscles with chakra to do it in this body. He was going to have to find some way to get his body back into proper condition quickly. "You left yourself wide open to my counterattack. Not to mention that I could just as easily have stabbed Akamaru with a kunai as I could have dodged him since you both left my hands completely free." He twirled a kunai that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere to emphasize his point.
"Don't even joke about that," Kiba snarled, a fierce expression on his face.
"I would say the only joke here is you, but truthfully you aren't that bad... for a fresh graduate."
"You're still carrying on with that bullshit?"
"For the next part of the evaluation, ninjutsu," Kuushou said.
"Hey, no Sexy Jutsu bullshit!"
Kuushou paused in the act of raising his hands, a confused expression on his face. "What?"
Hearing his reply, Kiba's expression looked just as confused. "What other ninjutsu do you know? Well, I guess you know a clone technique now, but still."
Kuushou sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Un-fucking-believable," he muttered. "No, I will not be using the," he grimaced, pondering just what the hell this world's Naruto had been doing for the last twelve years, "Sexy Jutsu."
He raised his hands again, racing through the handseals and declaring loudly, "Water Style: Levy Break."
"The fuck?" Kiba said, looking shocked. He immediately leapt back when he noticed the water seeping out of the ground. "Four Legs Technique!" he cried as he landed in a crouch. Akamaru joined him a moment later, and both of them growled at him in unison.
"Now you're getting it," Kuushou said as he executed another series of seals. "Water Style: Bullet."
The water around his feet suddenly rose into the air and formed spheres. A moment later they began to rip through the air towards the frantically dodging Kiba and Akamaru. The two of them were slipping and sliding along the muddy ground, confirming that they really didn't know any techniques to maintain their footing.
Once the last bullet was on its way, Kuushou shifted tactics and darted forward, his movements swift and sure in sharp contrast to Kiba and Akamaru. Kiba attempted to swipe at him as he closed into melee range, but he easily dodged the attack and placed his palm flat against Kiba's chest.
"Wind Style: Bullet," he intoned softly, and then Kiba was flying backwards through the air before slamming into a distant tree nearly twenty feet away. Akamaru abandoned the fight a moment later to scramble towards his partner, yipping worriedly as Kiba landed in a crumpled heap at the base of the tree.
Kuushou grimaced and began walking towards the downed genin; that last hit may have been a little excessive, especially considering that the boy's mother was currently watching. He wanted to embarrass Kiba while convincing the other watchers to let him work in peace, not make them think he was going to routinely cause serious injuries.
Kiba let out a low groan, revealing that he was both conscious and not in too much pain. Kuushou knelt, his hands glowing green as he surveyed the damage; a couple of cracked ribs and a lot of bruising was all, and he had that fixed in a matter of seconds.
Kiba pulled himself up against the tree and staggered to his feet a moment later, staring at the blonde in front of him. Kuushou stared back, his head cocked to the side and one eyebrow raised curiously.
"Chuunin, huh?" Kiba asked after he had recovered his breath and was standing straight once more.
"Yep."
"And you're going to be teaching me how to kick ass like that?"
"That's the idea."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Kuushou watched as Kiba hobbled out of the clearing, the genin's form exhausted and mud-covered. Once the boy was out of sight, he leaned up against a tree and tapped his foot impatiently. The hidden observers moved into the open a moment later.
"I trust that clears up any lingering doubts," he asked, sweeping his gaze over the assembled group.
"Damn blondie, you really put him through the wringer," Anko said, smirking as she leaned up on the tree next to him. "Still can't believe he didn't even know tree-walking yet, though."
"As you are well aware, Mitarashi-san, only registered Konoha ninja are allowed to receive advanced training," Koharu said pointedly.
Kuushou scoffed. "I weep for Konoha if tree-walking is considered advanced." Koharu and Homura bristled, but Kuushou was more interested in the Hokage's reaction... which was minimal and revealed nothing of what he was thinking.
"What was the point of baiting my genin like that, Uzumaki-san?" asked a black-haired jounin. Kuushou mentally noted that this must be Kurenai Yuuhi, a kunoichi he had never actually met in his own world.
"Much like most of you, he was not prepared to take me seriously," Kuushou replied calmly. "And now he is."
He turned his attention to an older woman who was stalking forward, her face fixed in a glare. This one he had met, quite often, and this Tsume Inuzuka exuded the same feral, dangerous air he had become accustomed to. He could see her lean muscles rippling as she moved, and the rather large canine trotting at her side only added to the lethal image she projected. It was rather interesting how so many of the older generation were nearly identical to the people he was used to while so many of the younger ninja were almost absurdly different.
Tsume came to a stop in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared down at him. He met her gaze calmly, and the rest of the assembled group fell silent as they observed the confrontation.
"What do you have planned?" she asked simply.
"Increase his speed and strength, focus on his chakra control until he's past water-walking, then add some utility jutsu and ranged attacks. Oh, and lots and lots of sparring."
Tsume nodded sharply. "Good," she replied, then turned and began walking out of the clearing.
Kuushou noted that the Hokage was grinning widely as the Inuzuka clan head give her tacit approval to the training sessions. No doubt that would gut any continued opposition from anyone else.
Kurenai wasn't entirely satisfied though. "Do you plan to beat all of your students into submission first?" she asked, her tone sharp.
"If it will help," he replied easily, smirking. "I don't expect that will be necessary for anyone else, though. Probably not as fun as doing it to Kiba, either."
Shockingly, his flippant response didn't pacify her in the least. Before she could continue, however, someone else spoke up.
"That was a rather wide variety of jutsu you used," Kakashi observed, his single eye peeking over the edge of his orange book. "What is your chakra affinity?"
"Wind," Kuushou replied.
"Do you know any lightning or fire jutsu?" the masked ninja asked.
"I do, but I didn't want to hurt him too much by using them."
Kakashi just nodded. "And is there a reason you didn't use any jutsu outside of a roughly five meter radius?"
Kuushou did a double-take before staring at the masked ninja. "You picked up on that already?"
"It's rather obvious once someone sees you in action," he replied calmly.
"He's got a point, blondie," Anko said. "You really go out of your way to stay within a certain range of your opponents."
Kuushou sighed, annoyed. The Hokage already knew, as did Inoichi, but he didn't want that particular piece of information getting spread around. He turned to look at the Hokage.
"This is considered an A-rank secret," the Hokage said, "but due to the slightly different nature of his seal his chakra must remain with a certain distance of his body."
There was a small stir among the remaining ninja. "I think a demonstration is in order, Naruto-kun," the Hokage said.
"Alright, Hokage-jiji," he replied. He pushed himself off of the tree and walked a short distance away from the group. He noticed that Hiashi had activated his byakugan and that Kakashi had slipped his headband up to uncover his sharingan eye. Interestingly, neither gave any outward sign of surprise or pain as they got an eyeful of the aura surrounding his body; those not accustomed to it usually reacted negatively, in one fashion or another.
Kuushou ran through another series of handseals before intoning, "Water Style: Water Whip."
He drew water out of the still slightly muddy ground and sent it lashing out into the clearing. The end of the whip, as if crossing some invisible boundary, suddenly lost cohesion a short distance away from him and the water splashed uselessly to the ground.
"I see," Hiashi said musingly.
"Damn, blondie, that's gotta suck," Anko said ruefully.
Kuushou shrugged. "It's annoying, certainly, but hardly crippling. Now, unless there are any more objections, I'd like to get some lunch and relax a bit before I start my next training session this afternoon – with Hinata, if I'm not mistaken." He turned and nodded respectfully at Hiashi. "I trust you have no complaints?"
"If you wish to waste your time, that is your own affair," Hiashi said as he turned to leave the clearing.
Kuushou frowned. "You still don't think I know what I'm doing?"
"I was not referring to you, Uzumaki-san," came the reply.
A/N: Finally caught up with editing and revising. More minor revisions in this chapter, though nothing worth mentioning.
I've currently got 2,984 words written for the next chapter, so I'll probably have the first new chapter sometime this week.
As always, thanks for reading and thanks for all the reviews!
Revised: 02-20-2012 - Typo (air != arm) - thanks to Yak for pointing it out!