Kuushou returned to his new apartment following the meeting with the Hokage, exchanging nods and quick greetings with a few ninja along the way. Word was apparently getting around about who he was and what he was doing – no doubt helped along by Anko – and it appeared that there might be the vague beginnings of respect towards himself. It probably helped that he was now living in an almost exclusively ninja section of Konoha and no longer had to deal with the civilians.
Once inside his apartment, he began methodically stripping off his equipment and storing it away. He had long since learned how to perform such tasks without consciously thinking about it, so while his body worked his thoughts drifted to his current situation.
He had the beginnings of a solid stash of funds, but if he left Konoha today he would undoubtedly find himself running low on money quickly. He also had to consider how much he should allocate towards furniture and other such goods to give the impression that he intended to stay – investing in his home would no doubt alleviate any budding suspicions among his watchers. Fortunately he had never pretended to be particularly worried about material possessions, and with Inoichi vouching for him in that regard any such expenses would be minimal.
On the other hand, the majority of his income was going straight back out to purchase better equipment and supplies. He may not care about decorations or furnishings, but quality tools and weapons were a high priority, particularly sealing supplies.
Once he had stored all of his equipment in sealing scrolls, he moved into the living room and stood next to the large table lining one wall. The table was currently completely bare, but that changed as soon as he channeled his chakra into two carefully hidden seals. With a small puff of smoke the table was suddenly covered with stacks of sealing paper, bottles of chakra ink, and several pages covered in half-finished designs.
Just before he set brush to paper, he paused. He had already determined that his own sealing knowledge, while far from complete, was relatively advanced for this village. Perhaps he could leverage that knowledge as an additional source of income. A glance out the window showed that there was still plenty of sunlight left, so all of the stores in Konoha should still be open.
He quickly crafted several kinds of sealing scrolls, exploding tags, and paralysis seals and gathered them up, along with a scroll filled with supplies for any additional seals he might want to craft, then headed out the door.
The first two stores he tried didn't carry any sort of seals at all, but he quickly spotted one that he knew carried every type of ninja tool imaginable – Higurashi's. The store had apparently existed since the founding of Konoha in his world and it looked practically identical here.
"Welcome to Higurashi's!" came the vaguely bored greeting from the cashier. It was a young man that Kuushou didn't recognize, and judging by his chakra levels he was at best a genin and not a particularly strong one at that.
"I'd like to speak to the owner," Kuushou said without preamble.
The worker perked up and shook off his boredom, the unusual request serving to bring him out of his thoughts. "Is there a problem? I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you may have."
"I have a business proposition for him."
That drew a vaguely skeptical look, but the worker nodded at moved to a door facing the back. "Boss!" he yelled out, keeping one eye on Kuushou. "Someone wants to talk to you!"
It was only a few seconds before a tall, thickly muscled man came out of the back, his gaze quickly focusing on Kuushou. There was a small grunt of surprise before he waved the worker back to the counter.
"What can I help you with?" he asked, his voice clipped but still polite.
"I understand that you sell seals of various types," Kuushou began, motioning to a nearby display featuring small capacity sealing scrolls.
"We do," the man grunted. "If you want a discount, we offer five percent to chuunin, ten percent to tokubetsu jounin, and fifteen percent to jounin, standard. Large orders are also discounted on a case by case basis."
Kuushou shook his head. "I'm not here to buy, but to sell."
The man looked him over for a moment. "You've got five minutes," he said finally, crossing his heavily muscled arms over his thick chest.
"I can offer a wide variety of fuinjutsu products, from sealing scrolls to exploding tags."
"We have suppliers for that," the man began.
"If the ones you have on display are your standard stock, then I can guarantee that I can create higher quality tags at a competitive price. If your offer is good enough, I'll even let you be the exclusive supplier."
The man's face was relatively blank, but there was a speculative gleam in his eye. "Prove it," he replied.
Kuushou grinned widely.
They spent the rest of the afternoon working out which seals Kuushou would supply for what price, as well as the details of any custom work that might be requested. By the end of their negotiations Kuushou had a price that was at least as lucrative as running C-rank missions, possibly more so, and Jinsuke Higurashi was certain he would be seeing a lot more business coming his way.
Kuushou was wrapping up the visit when Jinsuke's daughter returned from training with her team.
"Dad!" Tenten called out as she entered the back of the shop. "I'm back!"
"Good timing," Jinsuke called out, motioning her over. She eyed Kuushou curiously as she approached, her eyes sweeping over his form quickly and efficiently. "This is Naruto Uzumaki. He'll be supplying us with some tags and scrolls from now on. He does some fantastic work."
"Nice to meet you, Uzumaki-san," Tenten said politely.
"Likewise, Higurashi-san," Kuushou responded. He had only met Tenten a few times, mostly in passing, but she seemed unchanged in this world. "Not to be rude, but I do need to get going. I'll have your first batch to you tomorrow afternoon."
"Of course, of course!" Jinsuke replied jovially. "Looking forward to it."
As Kuushou left, he could hear Jinsuke starting to explain the new deal they had just struck to Tenten.
"Troublesome," came the tired yawn as Shikamaru shuffled into the clearing the next morning. "You deliberately chose me for the morning session, didn't you?"
"Possibly," Kuushou replied, amused. He had, of course, but there was no fun in outright admitting it. His gaze flickered off to the right where Asuma Sarutobi was observing from within the trees. The faint hint of cigarette smoke showed the man wasn't trying too hard to hide his presence, however. He wasn't sure how to interpret that.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Shikamaru asked, rubbing his face and blinking.
"In your case, I figured we'd start with a game of shogi."
Shikamaru looked skeptical. "Really?" he asked.
Kuushou snorted. "No. I want to get an idea of your general fitness level, so we'll start with a quick run around the training ground."
Shikamaru actually mustered up enough energy to glare before taking off at a brisk pace. He wasn't particularly fast, but his movements were clean and smooth and his breathing was even. Kuushou began to pace him, gradually increasing his speed and forcing Shikamaru to keep up.
"So how'd you manage to get promoted to Chuunin so quickly?" Shikamaru asked conversationally. "It seems like your way would save a lot of effort."
"Oh, there are some unique circumstances at play, but I ended up getting a field promotion from the Hokage," Kuushou replied as he increased his speed a notch.
"Really? I thought you had to have an extensive mission record for those."
"Not always."
"So what did you do then? I heard Kiba mention you were covered in blood a few days ago... is it related to that?"
"It is. I was on a mission outside the village that didn't go according to plan."
"Your first kill?" Shikamaru asked quietly.
"No," Kuushou said. He waited for Shikamaru to open his mouth again before he continued. "I got my first kill years ago."
The genin actually stumbled for a moment, but recovered quickly. "I see," he finally said, his expression thoughtful.
The conversation lapsed after that as Shikamaru began to struggle to keep up the pace. Kuushou kept pushing for a few more minutes before he dropped down to a light jog and led Shikamaru back to the clearing in the middle of the training ground.
"Alright, next we'll test your chakra control. What exercises do you know?"
"The leaf exercise."
Kuushou waited for several seconds, looking at Shikamaru expectantly. "And the Pool of Shadows, I assume?" he said when Shikamaru didn't add anything further.
The genin gave a small start before slowly nodding. "And that, yes," he said, his gaze sharp, almost suspicious.
"Good. Demonstrate them both."
Shikamaru picked a leaf up off the ground and held it in his palm. After a moment, it floated smoothly in the air, raising and lowering in a quick pattern before settling into his palm once again. Dropping the leaf, he formed the ram handseal and focused. The difference was subtle at first, but his shadow began to grow darker and thicker as it gathered around his feet.
Kuushou saw the boy tensing and knew what it meant, but decided not to react as the Nara's shadow lanced out and connected with his own. He felt the jutsu take hold and watched in amusement as Shikamaru moved his arms and legs about, forcing him to walk forward. He also noted that Asuma had moved much closer and felt the tension in the man's chakra.
"If you aren't the Naruto we know," Shikamaru said, "then who are you?"
"Word spreads fast, doesn't it?"
"Who are you?" Shikamaru repeated. "Why do our teachers and the Hokage trust you enough to have you teach us?"
"Why don't you ask them?"
"I have. They didn't really give us an answer."
"What did they say?" Kuushou asked curiously. He could tell that his lack of concern was really starting to get to Shikamaru, as the boy was growing more tense by the second.
"Some bullshit about you studying outside of the Academy."
Kuushou chuckled lowly. "None of you are really buying that, are you?"
"Anyone with working eyes or ears could easily trace your movements. Your pranks were flashy, you were loud, and your clothing was bright. There's no way you had that much time unaccounted for, certainly not enough to develop the skills you're showing off now. Then there's the fact that your behavior completely changed on the day of the graduation exam without any warning or explanation. You don't even walk the same anymore."
"Well then, I suppose I owe you an answer. Before that, though... are you going to release me?"
"After I hear what you have to say," Shikamaru said firmly.
"Ah. Consider this part of our training session, then."
Shikamaru's eyes didn't even have time to widen before the ground under his feet thrust upwards, sending him tumbling through the air and breaking his connection with his shadow. He landed awkwardly and rolled nearly a meter before coming to a stop. Kuushou stared at him as he lay on the ground, motionless.
"Quit faking, you lazy ass," Kuushou said.
Shikamaru slowly rose to his feet, settling into a defensive stance and revealing a kunai clutched in one hand. "Naruto doesn't know any jutsu like that, and he certainly can't use them without handsigns."
"Your Naruto doesn't, although Kami knows why no one bothered to teach him. This Naruto can use ninjutsu just fine, thank you."
Shikamaru's brow furrowed and he was silent for several seconds. Finally, he slowly lowered his kunai and slipped out of his stance. "That's why they trust you so much. You are Naruto, just from... what, another world? Reality? Dimension? Plane of existence?"
"Basically, yes."
"How did you get here? What happened to our Naruto?"
"Those are both questions I would very much like the answers to."
"Troublesome...," Shikamaru sighed.
Kuushou watched as Shikamaru slouched out of the clearing following the end of their training session. Once the genin had accepted his identity a lot of the tension had dissipated, and they had spent the rest of the session focused on his clan jutsu while discussing similarities and differences between the two worlds.
"Smoking can kill you, you know," Kuushou said to the empty clearing once Shikamaru had left.
"All you med-nin say that," Asuma muttered as he stepped out from behind a tree, "but Pops is hanging on just fine, now isn't he?"
"Point," Kuushou said, inclining his head. He watched as Asuma walked closer before asking, "Are all the teachers going to make a habit of observing the sessions? Don't you guys have better things to do with your time?"
"Yes, we are," Asuma grinned, looking completely unapologetic. "You're three for three on bad starts so far, not exactly a shining endorsement."
"I did tell the Hokage that the cover story wouldn't hold," Kuushou pointed out.
"And you've been trying so very hard to keep it up," Asuma countered, still grinning. "On the upside, you won't have any problems from Chouji once Shikamaru gets a chance to talk with him."
"Chouji's about as easy going as a ninja gets," Kuushou replied, "I doubt I would have had any trouble with him anyway."
"Care to join me for lunch?" Asuma asked as he pulled out another cigarette.
"As long as it's ramen."
"Heh. I guess some things don't change."
They made the trip to Ichiraku's talking about his plans for the training sessions. Asuma was surprisingly proactive about working with him to shore up his team's weaknesses, freely sharing where he thought Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino could benefit from some additional training. That conversation continued as Teuchi served up bowl after bowl of ramen, but was eventually interrupted by another arrival.
"Ah, Naruto-san," Mareko said pleasantly as she entered the ramen stand. "I was hoping I might find you here."
Kuushou stifled a sigh of annoyance as the med-nin settled onto the stool next to him.
"My apologies, Sarutobi-san," she said, inclining her head towards Asuma. "I didn't mean to interrupt you."
"Nah, it's fine," he said, waving off her concern. "We've already covered all the important bits." He pushed back his empty ramen bowl and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
"I hope you aren't about to start smoking in here," she said, her eyes narrowed. "Smoking causes considerable damage to the lungs, and it's even worse for someone as young as Naruto-san."
Asuma's eye twitched slightly, but he just chuckled and laid down some money on the counter. "I've got a couple of errands to run before my afternoon appointment," he said, smirking at Kuushou. "I'll leave you two to it." He stepped outside the stand and made a show of lighting up his cigarette and taking a deep drag on it, exhaling with a loud, satisfied sound. "Med-nins," he muttered to himself as he walked off.
"I took the liberty of compiling a few statistics regarding the survival rates of med-nin in the field," Mareko began after placing her order with Teuchi.
Kuushou had to give the woman credit for her persistence, if nothing else.
After his training session with Chouji, which was by far the smoothest and simplest so far since the Akimichi had already been filled in on everything by Shikamaru, Kuushou returned to his apartment. He was intent on crafting the tags and scrolls for the Higurashi shop as he had agreed, only to find that two people were waiting for him; Danzo and the pale boy he had fought during his evaluation. The old man was examining the marble table in the living room while the boy knelt in a corner, watching the room intently.
"Good afternoon, Elder Shimura," Kuushou said as he entered his living room, acting as if they had just met on the street rather than finding the man waiting inside his apartment.
"You're rather interesting, Uzumaki-chuunin," the man replied as he turned to face him, his voice flat as always. "You haven't even been here two weeks, yet your actions are already making waves."
"I do what I can," Kuushou replied, smirking.
"I'm sure. I understand that you are looking for ways to earn a little extra income... understandable. Intelligent, even. A ninja should always ensure that he has sufficient resources on hand to handle whatever comes his way."
Kuushou nodded slowly. "I've always thought so. After all, better to have it and not need it-"
"Than need it and not have it. Maxim Eight, yes." Danzo tapped his cane on the floor twice as if to emphasize his point. "The reason I'm here is that I think we can help each other."
"How, exactly?"
"As an Elder of Konoha, I have certain privileges as regards mission assignments, among other things. I have sponsored many ninja through the Academy over the years – such as Sai here, whom I'm sure you remember – and I often send the more demanding but lucrative missions their way. It's a system that works well, as I can match their skills to the mission and they know they are serving this village to the best of their ability and are rewarded accordingly.
"If you are interested, I'm willing to have you partner with Sai on a few missions to see if you have what it takes. If you do, then I can guarantee you won't have any issues with money or equipment. It would also serve you very well for when the tokubetsu jounin or even full jounin trials come around."
"I see," Kuushou replied, his expression neutral. "I would need to hear more about the specifics before I agreed to anything."
"I would expect nothing less," Danzo said, his voice still completely flat. He pulled out a small scroll and laid it on the marble table. "This should explain everything in a bit more detail. If you have any further questions, you can contact Sai. It just so happens that he lives in an apartment in this building, number nine-six-four."
"How convenient," Kuushou said. He knew for a fact that Sai hadn't been anywhere near this building since he had moved in. He supposed the boy could have been out on a mission, but it was... suspicious, to say the least.
"I'll be waiting for your answer," Danzo said as he walked out of the apartment, his cane making a solid thump with every step. Sai followed him silently – the boy's expression was every bit as blank as Danzo's, but Kuushou noted that his eyes were studying him.
Once they had left, Kuushou unrolled the scroll and began reviewing the information within. As expected, it explained more about the types of missions Danzo's "sponsored ninja" typically performed, with an emphasis on their higher pay and impressive success rate. It only took a little reading between the lines to realize that the types of missions performed were almost exclusively assassination, sabotage, and hunting for missing-nin.
"Interesting...," Kuushou mused.
Kuushou's expression was completely blank as he entered the clearing the next morning.
Ino was already present, pacing back and forth and muttering to herself about having to learn from "Naruto of all people" and how this was a waste of her time. Asuma had taken up the same spot he had occupied yesterday, hidden in the trees and observing everything.
Ino's head snapped up and she stalked forward angrily when she saw that he had arrived.
"Alright Naruto, I want some answers!" she growled as she stopped in front of him. Her hand lifted and one finger was extended, but she hesitated and then lowered it.
"I am not here to answer your questions," Kuushou replied, doing his best Itachi imitation.
"What's all this crap I hear about you being a different Naruto than the one we knew at the Academy? Why the hell are you acting like you have been? And why the hell are we learning from you?"
Kuushou maintained his blank-faced stare, his eyes boring into Ino's. She matched his stare with one of her own, her expression angry and stubborn. The silence stretched for nearly a minute before she started to look uncomfortable and finally looked away. She grimaced, realizing that she had lost their impromptu contest of wills.
"You are learning from me," Kuushou said, ignoring her other questions, "because the Hokage has assigned me to teach you. You are not required to attend these sessions, but you will find yourself speaking to the Hokage if you do not. And as for why he feels I can teach you…," he trailed off, contemplating yet another dramatic display of skill and superiority. It felt wrong to do that now, in large part because this Ino would be surprised or impressed when the real Ino would know he could do so much more.
"I can teach you because I know you can be more than what you are now," he finished simply.
"And just what am I now?" Ino asked challengingly.
"Pathetic."
She obviously hadn't expected that answer, as she recoiled as if she'd been slapped. After a moment, though, her face twisted in anger and then her fist was swinging towards his head. He sighed and casually leaned out of the way.
"While I applaud your enthusiasm," he began mockingly, "you are not at the point where you will benefit from sparring. Your training regimen will consist of exercises designed to build your chakra reserves and physical endurance until further notice."
"Stop. Dodging. Me!" she snapped as she continued to flail at him. "Dammit!" she snarled, then jumped back and began running through a series of handseals. Her speed wasn't too bad, honestly, but it was slow enough that he could easily pick out the combination for the Mind Transfer technique.
He darted forward faster than she could react and seized her hands, interrupting her jutsu. "Ninjutsu practice will come later," he said in the same monotone he had used throughout their discussion. "If you cannot follow your teacher's instructions then the sessions will be suspended."
She growled at him – literally growled, a feral sound that rumbled out of her throat – but apparently decided to cease her attacks for the moment. He released her hands and she stepped back quickly, her hands balled into fists. She took several deep breaths before she bit out, "What do I do first?"
She had enough mannerisms in common with the real Ino that he recognized all the signs that she had shelved her coming vengeance for a more opportune moment – no doubt when she felt he would least be expecting it – but that was fine. If she could actually catch him off guard, then she would deserve it… and his own retribution.
"That will suffice," Kuushou droned four hours later, allowing a small smirk to twist his lips as Ino collapsed into a puddle of sweat and trembling muscles.
She made a vague gesture that was probably meant to be rude but looked more like her arm flopped sideways, then laboriously began to pick herself up. She made several more gestures that were definitely rude as she left, pausing occasionally to lean against a tree and catch her breath.
Asuma appeared beside him a moment later, a deep frown etched on his face. "That was a little excessive," he said lowly, his tone almost accusing.
"That was less than what Maito Gai routinely inflicts on his team," Kuushou responded, allowing his stoic Itachi impression to fade.
"Gai spent a lot of time building his team up to that level," Asuma retorted, none of the tension leaving his frame. "You didn't push Chouji or Shikamaru nearly that hard, and Ino isn't even a close combat type."
"You are free to pull her from the training if you want," Kuushou said, turning to walk away.
"Are you going to ease up on her?" Asuma asked pointedly as he matched Kuushou's pace, not letting him end the conversation just yet.
"No."
Asuma grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Kuushou reflected that the ninja in this world were taking far too many liberties in regards to him and that he might be required to do something about it relatively soon.
"Do you hate her?" Asuma asked intently, his eyes searching. "Are you doing this just to watch her struggle?"
Kuushou's expression closed off, his face becoming a blank mask that even Danzo would be hard-pressed to match.
"No," he answered, his tone glacial. "Now remove your hand, Sarutobi-jounin."
Asuma slowly removed his hand, his eyes narrowed. "You aren't doing yourself any favors, Naruto," he said lowly. "A lot of people have their eyes on you, for better or for worse, and the Hokage has overruled many objections by giving you the trust and responsibility he has. If things don't turn out well, there will be consequences, and not just for you. You would do well to keep that in mind."
"That is an interesting perspective, Sarutobi-jounin," Kuushou replied calmly. "From my perspective, those people are delusional if they think I give a shit what they think." He smiled grimly at Asuma's expression, noting his surprise and quickly growing anger. "I have not forgotten my situation when I arrived in this world, and it seems to me that the Hokage would have been well-served to start overruling people long ago."
He then left the clearing in an abrupt shunshin, giving Asuma no time to respond.
Kuushou returned to the training ground after lunch – uninterrupted, for once – noting that Asuma had departed and that Shino was already waiting within. He had barely made it past the fence marking the boundary of the area before he was intercepted by the other person waiting inside – Kurenai.
"Naruto Uzumaki," Kurenai said as she came to a stop in front of him, her tone neutral. Her chakra was agitated, though honestly not as much as he would have expected given their last encounter. "I apologize for my unwarranted assault on your person. There was no justification for my actions and I failed to behave in a manner befitting a ninja of Konoha." Her entire delivery was stilted, almost forced, and her bow was about as stiff as he had ever seen.
He left her in that position for several seconds, inwardly enjoying her increasing agitation, before he finally responded.
"What did you tell Hinata afterward?" he asked, still not acknowledging her words.
She pulled upwards, almost but not quite straightening completely, and met his gaze impassively as she answered. "I explained the circumstances surrounding your... changes, as well as the sensitive nature of that knowledge."
"And her response?"
"She eventually understood and agreed not to reveal anything."
Kuushou wondered if Kurenai was being as vague as possible to annoy him or out of some attempt to respect Hinata's privacy. Probably both.
"Will she be participating in the training sessions next week?" he asked next.
Some strange mixture of emotions flitted across her face, too well-controlled and gone too quickly for him to properly grasp what they were.
"Yes."
"Very well then. If there is nothing further, I am late for my meeting with Shino."
"And my apology?" Kurenai asked through gritted teeth, still maintaining her partial bow.
Kuushou fell silent, contemplating his response as he felt Kurenai's tension rising higher and higher. He could accept her apology and let the issue end there, or he could throw it back in her face and push for official action against her. Neither approach satisfied him; he wanted his payback to be personal, not some fine or note in her file and he also wasn't about to just let it go, either. He hadn't quite realized just how much respect and deference he received as Naruto Yamanaka until he arrived in this world. The lack of it here was… irksome.
Kuushou smirked, his eyes staring into Kurenai's. "Though I appreciate the sentiment, I do not recall any incident requiring such an apology."
Kurenai paused, then nodded once, sharply, and relaxed. "Very well, Uzumaki-san," she said, a small amount of gratitude leaking into her voice.
Kuushou just waved her off and turned, walking towards the center of the clearing. Kurenai no doubt believed he was letting the whole thing go, perhaps tacitly acknowledging that he had also been in the wrong. Allowing it to be handled in this manner also meant that there was no official record and that she would owe him a favor for that – a small one, but a favor nonetheless.
And he would also have plenty of time to come up with an appropriate response. Something suitably embarrassing, but not so excessive that the Hokage or Kurenai's friends would feel compelled to intervene.
Yesterday's session with Shino had proceeded as he had expected, the stoic genin proving to be nearly as physically fit and skilled as the Shino he knew. The biggest difference was that the boy's kikaichuu were not used to his chakra and tended to drift towards him even when Shino attempted to send them elsewhere. That had also been an issue in his own world, but Shino had years to overcome that particular difficulty.
This morning was the session he was the least certain of – Sakura's. The girl had managed to secure Kunoichi of the Year without the benefit of the Clan Kids' intervention, but her chakra reserves were astonishingly small and she did not appear to be physically fit. Her personality also seemed to be completely different.
Kuushou really didn't know what to make of those differences. He also didn't know what to make of the fact that unlike every training session prior to this, her teacher was not hiding among the trees. He couldn't sense Kakashi anywhere within the village, in fact.
"Good morning, Haruno-san," he said as he came to a stop next to her. She yelped in surprise, jumping to her feet from where she had been resting against a tree trunk.
"Naruto-baka!" she said, frowning. "Don't startl- … what did you call me?"
"Haruno-san," Kuushou repeated. The Hokage had told him of Naruto's persistent crush on the girl, but there was no way he was going to even pretend to maintain that, even before his "secret" became more or less common knowledge and rendered the entire issue moot.
Her expression changed rapidly, flitting from surprise to disbelief to disappointment and then settling on nervousness. "S-so… you really are from a different…" she trailed off, gesturing vaguely.
"Yes."
"Oh." She swallowed quickly, then said, "So, um, I guess we're supposed to get started? Are we going to spar?"
"Not yet. I want to get an idea of your fitness level first." She actually looked a little scared at that, for some reason.
After some jogging, a few sprints, and a quick set of pushups and situps, he had determined that she was fairly fit by civilian standards and that Iruka had perhaps been generous with his E-rank rating for her.
"Next, let's test your chakra control. What exercises do you know?"
"I've mastered the leaf exercise and its three variants," she proclaimed proudly.
Kuushou blinked. "Three variants?"
Sakura grinned smugly. "Yep, I can hover it over my hand, keep it stuck to my forehead, collect them barefoot while walking, and even move them around on my arms and legs," she proclaimed as if she had won some great victory.
Kuushou nodded in response. She'd clearly done some independent research outside of the Academy, because even in his world those exercises weren't exactly common.
"Then you're ready to move on to the next exercise – tree-walking. That's good, actually, since that will allow you to work on several areas at once."
She blinked, silently mouthing the words "tree-walking" as she nodded in response.
Once he had demonstrated the exercise and she had shown that she was genuinely gifted when it came to chakra control by getting it right on the first try, he explained what she would be doing for the rest of their time.
"To start with, I want you to run up the trunk of the tree as fast as you can. Once you reach the top, you will then stand on one foot against the side of the tree for five seconds, then take a single step downward and switch to the other foot, repeating that all the way down. Once you reach the bottom, you can take a short rest before running back to the top and doing it again."
Sakura looked very pale, but nodded. "Alright," she said, walking hesitantly to the base of the tree.
"Don't worry, once your legs get tired we'll take a break from that," he said, smiling softly.
She saw his smile and relaxed slightly. "That's good to hear," she said, letting out a nervous laugh. "After what Ino said about-"
"And switch to doing it solely with your hands," Kuushou interrupted.
Sakura's face went completely white.
Unlike Ino, Sakura didn't even manage to make it the full four hours; she passed out just before the three-hour mark from straining her reserves too much. Unfortunately for her, she was three-quarters of the way up the tree when that happened.
Kuushou sighed as he caught her and placed her against the base of the tree, fishing a chakra pill out of his supplies. He was surprised she had been willing to push that hard and disgusted that she didn't even recognize the beginnings of chakra exhaustion that had been showing up for the last thirty minutes. Still, he would admit, if only to himself, that he was actually impressed with her chakra control; her chakra efficiency was practically perfect, which allowed her to stretch her small reserves a surprisingly long way. If she could find a way to maintain that skill as her reserves grew larger, she could pull off some impressive feats.
A quick water jutsu had Sakura spluttering into wakefulness, her face shocked as she shook off the cold water. Her face contorted into anger before she blanched and looked up at the tree.
"What happened?" she asked quietly.
"Take this," Kuushou said impatiently, handing the chakra pill to her. Her eyes widened in understanding as she took it, popping it into her mouth and swallowing without difficulty.
"You passed out due to chakra exhaustion," Kuushou continued, answering her earlier question. "Did you not recognize the signs?"
She opened her mouth to reply, then slowly shook her head. "I've read about it, but that's the first time I've actually experienced it myself. I guess I was too focused on making it down the tree."
"You've never pushed yourself very hard, have you?" Kuushou asked, his voice neutral.
Sakura frowned and shook her head. "I never needed to. I was good enough to meet the minimum requirements for the Academy, and I focused my efforts on the mental parts instead... I got the Kunoichi of the Year title, though, so it worked!"
"Yes, you did attain an ultimately meaningless designation in a competition against Academy students. Congratulations."
Sakura flinched.
"It's not entirely your fault, I suppose," Kuushou allowed. "The minimum should have been much higher, and the teachers should have pushed you to work harder."
"Raw strength isn't everything!" Sakura protested. "Just look at the Nara clan, or the Intelligence Department, or even the Hokage!"
Kuushou cocked his head to the side. "I agree," he said. "In fact, I think you'll find that skill often beats power. I've seen it happen personally. On the other hand, sufficient raw power can make skill meaningless. Take, for example, the Kyuubi. When it attacked all the jutsu that the ninja of this village had crafted were meaningless."
"But the Fourth Hokage-"
"Yes, he did. And so that is an example of both raw power overcoming skill and skill overcoming raw power. Now, to bring this around to my point, right now it looks like you have the skill part of the equation in at least some respects."
Sakura nodded, looking faintly pleased but also confused.
"What you lack is raw power, which is why your training will focus on building both your muscles and your chakra reserves."
Sakura frowned. "I don't want to look like some musclebound thug, though."
The clearing fell silent as Kuushou stared at Sakura. She shifted uncomfortably, glancing from side to side as she was unable to meet his eyes directly.
"If you are seriously more concerned with your appearance than your skill and strength as a ninja, then I suggest you stop now."
"Stop? You mean these training sessions? I thought we had to come."
"I mean stop pretending to be a ninja at all. Trying to train you while you have that mindset will be a waste of my time."
Sakura opened her mouth to object, looking hurt and confused, but Kuushou cut her off.
"Use that supposedly keen mind of yours. Do the kunoichi in this village look like musclebound thugs? Does any ninja look like that? Further, what do you think is going to happen when you get separated from your team on a mission and get cornered by an enemy ninja who has more raw power than you do skill? I'm sure you can imagine all sorts of scenarios that you would not like."
Judging by the disturbed expression on her face, she could.
"If you are going to avoid training or pushing yourself because of such idiotic reasons as that, do us both a favor and don't bother to show up next week."
With that, he left the clearing.
Kuushou returned to the clearing after another lunch where Mareko attempted to convince him to join the hospital as a member of the staff. She'd shifted her approach to the perks of the job, including a salary that was much, much higher than what he knew the norm to be. He'd still refused, of course, but he wondered what she would try next.
Sasuke was waiting in the clearing, visibly impatient, and once again Kakashi was nowhere to be found. He had picked up a group of four watchers, however, none of which he recognized. Interesting.
Sasuke focused on him the moment he stepped into the clearing.
"Fight me," he demanded.
"You do realize this is a training session, yes?" Kuushou asked curiously. Sasuke's current attitude reminded him of what he had been like following the Uchiha Rebellion... apparently he'd never gotten over that here.
Sasuke didn't reply, just grunting something unintelligible and dropping into a stance.
Kuushou eyed him for a moment then shrugged; he had intended to start with a spar after all, so this didn't really change anything.
The moment he dropped into a stance of his own Sasuke charged forward, leading with a short jab towards his stomach. Kuushou spun to the side, launching a kick at Sasuke's leg that the genin adeptly avoided. They sprang apart after that brief exchange. Sasuke looked faintly surprised, but he just snorted softly and charged forward again.
The exchange lasted nearly a minute this time, volleys of punches and kicks in both directions with neither landing a clean hit. As he began to discern Sasuke's skill, Kuushou mentally elevated Sasuke's rank, in taijutsu at least; either Iruka had underestimated the Uchiha or the other students didn't push him enough, because what he was showing now was at least a high C-rank.
Kuushou blocked a straight kick with his arms, and Sasuke used that leverage to launch himself into the air. When he landed, his hands were already blurring through seals and he was drawing in a deep breath.
"Fire Style: Fireball!" he announced before exhaling sharply.
The size of the fireball was respectable and it was well-controlled but Sasuke had aimed too high, undoubtedly expecting his opponent to attempt to jump out of the way. Rather than taking that approach, Kuushou rolled forward under the attack, allowing it to singe his back in exchange for catching Sasuke off guard.
Sasuke's eyes widened in shock before he found two feet planted in his face and he was thrown backwards. He attempted to roll with the attack, but his balance was thrown off and his one attempt to regain his feet ended with him falling sideways. He lay on the ground, shaking his head and pawing at his kunai pouch, then suddenly stilled when he felt cold metal resting against his throat.
"Very good," Kuushou said, withdrawing the blade. "You actually exceeded my expectations in that fight, which was definitely a welcome change."
Sasuke shook his head again and slowly climbed to his feet. His onyx eyes were studying Kuushou curiously, and his fist was slowly flexing.
"No one's ever gone under the Fireball before," he muttered finally.
"Which explains why you aimed so high," Kuushou replied, nodding. "Most students and genin would just see a giant ball of fire headed their way and try to get away from it. Once they've seen it a few times, though, they'll realize that unless they get hit head on it's little more than an annoyance."
Sasuke's face twisted angrily before he took a deep breath and calmed himself. Kuushou noted the change in expression but continued talking.
"It's not particularly fast at the best of times, and I wouldn't use it at all if you were farther away than you were. It's also easily countered by any number of water or earth jutsu, reversed by wind jutsu, and far too slow against lightning jutsu."
Sasuke's face was openly angry now. "So you're saying it's useless."
"Not at all," Kuushou replied, smirking. "Make a clone."
Sasuke eyed him curiously but complied, creating a standard illusion clone. Kuushou directed him to place it in the middle of the clearing, then began circling it as he talked.
"There are two problems with how you use the jutsu. First, you are still using the handseals and calling out the name of the attack. Personally I tend to avoid using any jutsu I haven't practiced to where I can use them swiftly and silently, but sometimes you need a specific jutsu that you haven't gotten to that point. That sort of skill is something that will come in time, and gets easier as you master more and more jutsu. The second problem, however, is range. I'm roughly five meters away at this point, which would give any enemy plenty of time to respond. If I do this, however..."
Kuushou suddenly blurred forward, appearing directly in front of the clone. Without making any handseals or saying a word, he opened his mouth and exhaled a ball of fire that immediately engulfed the clone.
He turned back to Sasuke, who was watching him with widened eyes and a small grin.
"If I use it like that," Kuushou concluded, "then the enemy doesn't have time to respond and often won't even see it coming."
"Teach me," Sasuke said eagerly.
A/N: We'll start hitting some larger time skips with the next chapter, leading up to the Wave Mission then the Chuunin Exams.
I couldn't come up with anything interesting for Chouji or Shino, so I skipped those sessions entirely. As for the ones I did show, word of the previous sessions spread through various channels, so the later ones knew what to expect. What they did with that information varied, obviously, but I think their reactions are consistent with their personalities.
Trying to avoid "bashing" in these, particularly with Sakura, was rather interesting. I don't think the "of the Year" titles are actual titles so much as noting that Sasuke and Neji were the top of their class in their respective years, but I'm pretty sure there were multiple mentions that Sakura blew everybody else out of the water academically. What we see in canon, however, is that she is a fangirl through and through. Some of the things she and Ino did/said/thought were just... ridiculous. If taken seriously, the entire situation is rather horrifying.
In this story, she heard about what Ino went through and was rather concerned about it, but at the same time she doesn't want to back down from something her "rival" managed to get through. Between realizing just how far behind she is physically and the conversation at the end, she's gotten something of an early wake-up call. She really should have gotten this in the Academy, but... oh well.
Sasuke, funnily enough, was the one I was most worried about and yet the easiest to write. Once I shook off the bashing idea that he would hate anyone who was stronger than him, I looked at it from his perspective. In canon, he repeatedly challenges his peers who seem stronger than he does (Neji, Lee, even Naruto at times). The bashing interpretation is that he's looking to prove his Uchiha superioriousnessty, but there's a much simpler explanation.
He is, hands down, the most skilled member of his class at the start of canon. Period. This means that he hasn't had a real challenge or anyone capable of pushing him the entire time he was in the Academy. The moment he gets out of the Academy, he gets stuck with Sakura (his fangirl) and Naruto (the dead last), as well as a teacher who is chronically late, highly inattentive, and quite lazy.
From that perspective, how would he react to getting four hours a week with someone who is a challenge and is solely focused on making him stronger? Someone who doesn't cry foul when he tries to kick the spars up another notch? Someone who actually seems happy when he pulls out potentially lethal jutsu?