Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto.
Chapter 15: First steps
Anko cackled evilly as she put some distance between her prospective pupils and herself. She had spent most of the previous day and the night setting up a massive scavenger hunt for her genin. Some of the traps and challenges she had devised were positively hellish, especially considering that none of them dealt any long-term damage and she had only learnt a few days ago that she would get a team. She didn't really expect them to complete the series of obstacles and hidden clues before the evening, but it would be interesting to see how far they got. At least the fox boy's scores and reports from the academy would be completely misleading, and it was probably the same for the chubby kid and the princess considering that they were reported to have formed a study group with him. Sometimes she really wondered why nobody picked up on the fact that the academy results were almost completely useless. The boy who could conceive of the most outrageous pranks and evade capture by chunin got only an above average in stealth and traps? Preposterous. On the other hand, the decision which of the students got a personal jonin-sensei was so heavily politicized that their scores were immaterial as long as they were good enough to earn a pass. Anko knew very well that she wasn't allowed to fail her team (and didn't really want to anyway), but she would make the brats work for it.
She really hoped they were better than the standard academy education led her to suspect. In the past two years she had secretly observed academy classes from time to time and had been appalled at the standards. The threshold to pass was so low that she wondered how anyone could fail the tests. Anko herself had never completed the academy because her sensei had personally picked her out from the middle of the class, an option that no longer really existed. He had been much more demanding and a far better teacher than the normal instructors, even if she hated the son of a bitch now. At first Anko had thought that only the teachers she watched were somewhat incompetent, so she had acquired the current standard instruction manuals for academy teachers and the complete curriculum only to have her hopes shattered. Whatever unlucky bastard tried to survive purely on what he learned at the academy would undoubtedly end up very dead very soon. It had given even more credence to old man Homura's opinions about the decline of Konoha.
After a short stop to arm one of the more dangerous traps on her course she continued jumping from roof to roof. Anko would have her work cut out to bring the brats up to an acceptable level as quickly as possible, acceptable meaning capable of doing C-rank missions. She would be damned if they did one D-rank mission more than absolutely required. In that vein she had registered her team test as regular D-rank and paid for it out of her own pocket. Who the hell thought doing unskilled labor would teach them anything? Those kinds of jobs were one of the reasons why the village had a sizeable population of civilians in the first place. Sure, there was the public relations effect to be considered, but she didn't think her genin would appreciate it if someone later pointed at them and told the entire world that his child had peed on them during a babysitting mission. The scope of the effect would be further limited by the fact that D-ranks were strictly located inside of Konoha's borders. Really, the entire D-rank category was only a tool to get cheap labor. If they let academy students do them, okay, the little brats could probably use some spending money. But wasting theoretically fully trained genin on that? Pure madness. If she wanted her genin to learn teamwork or do some dry runs of real missions she would devise some nightmarish exercise, not let them paint fences.
Nonetheless, she had been extremely lucky to get to teach at all. It had been a real surprise when she had been contacted by old man Homura to take over a team instead of the badly injured jonin who had been originally assigned the spot. Her association with the councilor had once again proven very fruitful. He had already helped her to get promoted to full jonin two years ago; a rank she hadn't believed she could reach anymore. In exchange she had done a lot of missions that never officially showed up anywhere and that the Hokage didn't know about. Technically it could be considered treason, but each and every mission had been entirely reasonable. They were certainly not worse than the crap she had to do before she pledged herself to the councilor. The only reason they weren't official was that the Hokage had some strange standards about morality and international relations. Some of the scum she had eliminated had really been in need of killing and some contacts she had established would prove very useful for the village. Her association with the councilor had certainly helped her more than her earlier reliance on the Hokage ever had. Homura had used a lot of his own time to further her professional development, and she could say truthfully that her skills were a lot better and she knew a lot more about the inner workings of the political world than without that association. In fact, she saw him more as a friendly mentor than her superior. Now she even had her own team of impressionable children to tortu-… eh, teach.
'Huh, come to think of it I have to thank Naruto for that. If the brat hadn't found me lying in the gutter and talked some sense into me I would still be running around as special jonin.' she mused while finally approaching the training ground she had booked. It was one of the smaller ones inside the inner wall of the village. The larger training grounds where one could do more… volatile training without disturbing the rest of the populace were located outside the walls, like her favorite number 44, also known as the forest of death. Depending on her team's skills they would relocate sooner or later, but for now the small one should suffice. Anko had left special orders at the responsible office that nobody was allowed to help her genin team find the training ground earlier this day in case the kids got the idea to go there.
'Let's see, I should be able to get a few hours of napping in before I have to find the brats and see how far they've come. After that we can have something to eat and get to know each other. In the morning I'll test their combat skills and find out what they are really able to do. I wonder if I should use some summons, but that could be considered overkill or showing off. In any case, I'll have to-…'
Anko's thoughts came to a screeching halt as soon as she took in the sight before her. There, at the edge of the training ground her genin sat and looked at her expectantly.
"Hello Anko-sensei." they chorused.
"How did you… Why… That can't…" she stammered while trying to reengage her brain. It was impossible for the brats to be here, she herself had just followed the route at her full speed and she knew the way and the shortcuts. Finally she regained the power of coherent speech.
"Damn, how did you manage to complete the course and find this place so quickly?"
"Simple, we didn't. You ordered us to come to the training ground you had booked, following the trail you had planned wasn't necessary. We already knew you would be our sensei some days ago along with the team number, making it was really easy to search for a reservation request linked to you or the team for the current day." Naruto said.
"People like to talk to me. After Naruto had acquired the team assignments, it was easy to get someone belonging to the office to spill the number and location of the training ground." the Akamichi continued.
"I observed you y-yesterday when you placed some of the hints." the Hyuuga girl added. "The pieces of info I was able to read m-matched with the reservation."
Anko was beyond impressed. Her fresh team of genin had managed to outsmart her with foresight, preparation and a good deal of skill. It seemed she had hit the jackpot with her pupils. Still, she would have to assert her authority. It simply wouldn't do for the kids to get the impression they could walk all over her.
"Congratulations, you all pass my secret test. Starting tomorrow Team eleven will begin its duties." She waited a moment for the cheers to pass before she painted an evil smirk onto her face. "In the meantime you will have to disassemble all the traps on my trail. After all, we don't want some unsuspecting person getting hurt, do we?" The groans were music to her ears. Anko sat down besides her genin before she continued speaking. "But before that it's time for introductions. You already know that my name is Anko Mitarashi. My likes are playing mind games as well as collecting and testing various types of sharp weapons; I dislike people who wouldn't recognize loyalty if it hit them in the face, my old teacher and people who don't take their job seriously. My favorite food is dango. Conducting tea ceremonies is my hobby."
The blond boy was the first to speak up after her. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like exploring the woods, hunting, sneaking around and playing pranks. Things I dislike are arrogant fools, manipulative old men and the people who hate me without knowing me. One day I hope to found my own clan. My favorite foods are roasted bunny and all kinds of ramen. As a hobby I do some leatherworking and wood carving."
"I'm Hinata Hyuuga. My likes are w-wandering in the forest, collecting herbs, watching people and learning about medicine. I dislike my clan with the exception of m-my little sister, fan-girlish kunoichi who don't take their t-training seriously and prejudiced people. My dream is to become a k-kunoichi who is respected for her skills. Cinnamon rolls are the food I like best, and I collect and press flowers as a hobby." the pale girl said.
"I'm Choji Akimichi. I like talking with people, hanging out with my friends, cooking and learning about new foodstuffs while I dislike needlessly mean people. My dream is to become a worthy successor to my father. I like all food, but my favorite is barbecued steak. Writing poetry is my hobby." the last member of the team concluded his introduction.
Anko eyed them thoughtfully. They seemed to be a good bunch. In fact, everything was going far too smoothly. It was as if the children had expected all that. "Did you know about the second test by the sensei beforehand?" she finally voiced her suspicions.
The three genin looked at each other before Choji spoke up. "In short, yes. We paid attention to what happened with the graduating classes years ago and spied on the jonin during the last two terms. That means we knew that there would be a second test beforehand."
Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "They always said at the academy that ninja have to be sneaky and that information is a very valuable resource, so we and our friends took their words to heart. Preparation is half the battle, isn't it?"
'Interesting, very interesting. I wouldn't have expected any children to take the lectures so seriously. At least, none of the children in the classes I observed showed such initiative. I wonder if I will get any more surprises?' Anko thought. "You are right about that, perhaps even more than you know. Think about today. I invested a great deal of effort to prepare everything for my test, but my lack of information and your even more extensive preparation caused it all to be for naught. Never assume that your preparatory work will be sufficient. You can't plan for everything, and sometimes plain old chance invalidates all your work."
Anko thought for a moment what to say next. "A few ground rules first. You are all now full genin, meaning you will be treated as adults. Which means you should expect no leniency before the law if you do something blatantly illegal and are found out. On the positive side, you are now allowed to drink, have sex and take drugs to your heart's content in your time off as long as it doesn't affect your performance. As your sensei I can set arbitrary restrictions, but for now I will trust you to act like the responsible adults you supposedly are. Don't abuse that trust. That means I don't want to hear anything about you becoming pregnant," Hinata blushed furiously under her penetrating gaze, "nor do I want to deal with girls one of you two have knocked up." Now it was the boys' turn to blush. "If one of you becomes unfit for duty because he got carried away, turns up drunk or otherwise intoxicated I will make that someone wish he or she was never born. Am I making myself clear?" Hopefully they would take it to heart. Anko really didn't want to experience a repeat of the drama of one of last year's genin cells in her own team, which was why she was spelling things out. You never knew what bright ideas genin came up with if they suddenly found out they were now allowed to do adult stuff.
"I'm your direct superior. The Hokage can give you orders, but no other chunin or jonin is in your chain of command, except in emergencies or if it is specifically otherwise during a mission. If someone tries to give you orders seek confirmation from me, but be diplomatic about it. You can follow the orders if they appear reasonable. I expect you to be punctual, take your training seriously and refrain from goofing off. If you have any problems, questions or just want to talk I will always make time for you. Do what I say and we will get along splendidly." She stood up and grinned maliciously. "But now it's time for your afternoon work. I think you will be learning a great deal about traps."
Later that evening Anko met with her friend Kurenai in their favorite bar after she had sent her team home. Tomorrow she would evaluate their skills. Anko was very curious what she would learn. Despite having to dismantle all the traps she was early; it had taken her and her team surprisingly little time. All of them knew more about traps than should have been possible, especially Naruto, and it had cut down her estimated amount of time considerably. In fact, her genin would probably have reached the training ground before she would have finished her planned nap if they had followed the trail in the first place.
"Over here, Kurenai-chan." Anko waved Kurenai over to a table in a corner.
After exchanging a bit of small talk, they got to the matter of mutual interest, namely their first day as senseis.
Kurenai was full of praise for her genin. "They passed my test with ease. The two girls I got are very good for their age, take being a kunoichi seriously and are eager to learn. I'm impressed by their drive. The boy… less so."
"You got the Ikari brat, didn't you? Isn't his father some big shot in the fire daimyo's government?"
Kurenai nodded. "That's the one. He seems somewhat timid, and I got the impression that he only became a shinobi because his father wanted him to. Still, it's a bit early to judge, he might shape up." She took a sip from her cup. "Now, tell me how your test went. You said something about a complex scavenger hunt if I remember right."
Anko laughed. "My genin completely exceeded the expectations. The brats somehow managed to get information on the team assignments and were able to completely circumvent my test. Instead of following my trail they knew the ultimate target beforehand and got there ahead of me."
"Really? How did they manage that?"
"It was a team effort. Each of them got information from a different source before they pooled it. They even triple checked the information to avoid a trap. It will be fun teaching them. Have you heard anything about the other teams?" the purple-haired kunoichi asked.
"Kakashi doesn't test them until tomorrow. I saw Asuma with his team eating at a barbeque on my way here, so I assume they passed. Didn't hear about any other teams." Kurenai answered.
Anko scoffed. "Bet they've all been sent back to the academy already. Our four teams have all the clan heirs, and four passing teams are already more than usual. The entire testing process is a joke. Tell me, would you have failed yours in any case?"
Kurenai was taken aback for a moment before replying. "No, you're right. Even if they had pulled some stupid move I would still have given them another try." She eyed up Anko carefully. "Any particular reason why you bring it up now?"
"Nothing, just a few more things I learned recently. It just seems unfair towards the normal guys in their class who never had a real chance to get a sensei." Anko shrugged. "But I guess there's no sense in complaining, life is unfair and always has been." After a few moments of silence she forced a cheerful expression on her face. "By the way, what genjutsu did you use on your pupils?"
The red-eyed woman began to smirk in a decidedly sinister manner. "Well, you see…."
Choji greeted his friends when he arrived at the training field. It was around ten minutes before the time Anko had given them, and they were all early. There wasn't much to do besides making some warm-up moves. If everything went as expected Anko would begin reviewing their skills today.
In a whirlwind of leaves their teacher arrived. "Good morning, my faithful pupils."
"Good morning, Anko-sensei." they chorused.
"Today we will do some light sparring; I want to see where you stand taijutsu-wise." She pointed at Hinata. "You will fight me first, Naruto second, Choji last. We will start easy and slowly ramp up the difficulty until I signal you to stop. No use of chakra, no weapons and no potentially deadly or crippling blows. Do you understand?"
Hinata raised her hand. "S-Sensei, isn't it common to fight with full p-power to give an accurate impression?"
Anko raised an eyebrow. "You mean that 'come at me with the intention to kill' crap? You have spied on Kakashi, haven't you?"
"Um, m-maybe?"
Anko shook her head. "We will have to talk about your spying habits." She winked at them. "After all, it will do no good for your poor old sensei to be left out of the loop. Okay, lesson time. This is one of the most important lessons you can learn. No one is invulnerable or infallible, no matter the experience and skill. As a jonin I should be far superior to you in combat ability, but as your performance yesterday has shown the reports I have of your skills are hopelessly incorrect. That means I have no idea what you can do besides that it will be better than reported. While assessing an unknown enemy's skills in combat is a very important ability for every ninja it has its hazards. A weapon will hurt me almost the same as you without special countermeasures and a single moment of inattention or a miscalculation is enough for one of us to get seriously hurt. The way you proposed has an unfortunate tendency to produce training accidents. The life of a ninja is dangerous enough without adding unnecessary risks. Therefore we will confine ourselves to light sparring until I have a better grasp of what you can do. Understood? Good. Let's start, Hinata."
Choji and Naruto watched in silence as Anko and Hinata began their fight. It was very slow at first, but soon picked up speed. Their sensei really put Hinata through her paces. She didn't show her full potential, but her displayed prowess was markedly better than what Sasuke was capable of; just as the circle had agreed beforehand. Before long Hinata was breathing heavily, and finally she made a show of no longer being able to keep up with their sensei. Anko immediately stopped the battle.
"Good work, Hinata. I noticed you only used the style taught at the academy. Why is that?"
"I'm not especially g-good in my clan's style, sensei. The g-general academy style is much easier to a-adapt to my flexibility. Additionally, without chakra use the G-Gentle Fist hasn't that many advantages in a fight."
Anko nodded in acceptance. "Rest for a while, Hinata. Naruto, you're up."
Naruto made a good showing. Despite not using his full capabilities, he fought in the same manner he did when training in secret. Then it was Choji's turn. While he was a bit slower than everyone else in their group, he was by no means slow in absolute terms. He made up for that weakness with his strength and ability to absorb hits. His strikes might have a slightly lower chance of connecting with an especially nimble enemy, but if they did the recipient would feel it. Their sensei probably felt it too after she took a hit deliberately on her arms, probably to judge the strength behind the blow. Then it happened. Choji used a combination he had thought of himself, and Anko misinterpreted the blow as one of a very similar academy combination and reacted accordingly, opening her guard unexpectedly. It was clear to Choji that Anko noticed it immediately, but she refrained from a new countermove. Instead of being turned aside his fist made contact with Anko's stomach with a smack. Luckily he hadn't put that much force behind the blow. It would hurt, but there was no danger of it causing actual injury.
Anko let out an 'oof' before she signaled to stop fighting. "See, this is what I told you about. I miscalculated what Choji was doing, and I think he didn't expect my reaction." Choji nodded in confirmation. "I still could have deflected that hit, but the necessary force could have easily broken his arm. If he had attacked with the intent to hurt I would have been forced to do that to prevent a potentially lethal injury to myself. Remember to always consider your and the opponent's safety during training. Let's continue."
After they had finished sparring Anko sat down with them and spoke about her observations.
"You three are all very good; better than I expected in fact. I have made some preliminary observations about your fighting styles and possible future development. Hinata, your flexibility makes it very easy for you to simply circumvent an enemy's defense and get some hits in while evading the enemy's attacks. What you lack in strength you can make up by striking critical areas. We will have to explore if you can use your clan's style effectively despite your concerns. If not I can teach you several styles that make use of those qualities. My own personal fighting style is similar to your approach, and it should make an interesting endeavor to find just the right one."
"Thank you, s-sensei, I look forward to it." Hinata answered.
"Naruto, I noticed that while you fought admirably you tended to open the distance and seemed a bit uncomfortable occasionally. Tell me, do you prefer to use weapons to unarmed combat?" Anko asked.
"You're right, Anko-sensei. I'm no slouch in taijutsu and can certainly hold my own, but I prefer to use my weapons or stay out of melee range completely." his friend confirmed. "I mainly use kunai and knives, both of the melee and throwing variety. I thought about taking up fighting with a short sword later, but you need a teacher for that and it isn't taught at the academy. Other weapons I'm familiar with are throwing spears and the short bow. They aren't really practical for a shinobi though, I only used them for hunting. Oh, and I frequently use a leather sling. You can almost always find some stones as ammunition, and the sling itself is easy to transport."
Anko nodded thoughtfully before turning to Choji. "I don't have many recommendations for you, Choji. You fight and hit hard. Am I right that you want to follow your father's example and become a heavy melee fighter?"
Choji nodded. "That's right. I was always good at taijutsu and I'm very strong. It just seems the best way to make use of my abilities, but I'm always interested in learning more things."
The rest of the morning was spent with Anko testing their knowledge in various subjects and getting to know each other better. Choji had become a skillful manipulator of conversations in his own right, and he noticed that Anko learned more than they had originally willing to give up at this point in time. Like for example Hinata knowing more about medicine than she should and her opinion about her clan, or Naruto's knowledge about the inner workings of jutsu. It was nothing really compromising, but they would have to be on their guard. Their sensei was a very dangerous woman indeed. It was almost noon when Anko sent them home early. During the afternoon she would visit their families, or in Naruto's case simply turn up at his apartment.
'It seems we have hit jackpot with our sensei.' Choji thought. 'I don't think any of the others we observed came close to Anko in respect to professionalism and care about the students. Well, Gai perhaps, but that man is simply insane.'
'What an arrogant asshole.' Anko thought while keeping the pleasant expression firmly fixed on her face. Part of her duties as a sensei was visiting the families of her pupils, and currently she was sitting in a room inside of the Hyuuga compound facing the Hyuuga clan head, Hinata's father Hiashi. Originally she had planned to visit them first and the Akimichi second, but her appointment had been postponed without explanation. Anko supposed it was a petty display of superiority on the Hyuuga's part. She had already sent a small snake summon to Naruto to tell him that she wouldn't make it to him today.
Due to two of her students belonging to a clan it was a bit more than a courtesy call; she would have to coordinate her training schedule with the clan training Choji and Hinata received. Her talk with Choza Akimichi had been pleasant. The man was visibly proud of his son and knew that the boy had been holding back in the academy. Apparently Choji already knew the principles of most clan jutsu and would be able to train in them in self study, thereby making it largely unnecessary for her to plan for his absence in the next months. After chatting for a while she had received an invitation to visit whenever she wanted, which she intended to do frequently. If only her meeting with Hiashi could be as pleasant.
Instead of getting to the point the head of the Hyuuga clan was speaking about the traditions of his clan and other crap to obfuscate his intentions. In effect, he demanded that the Hyuuga would train Hinata how and when they saw fit, and she would only be allowed to teach her some bits and pieces and otherwise stay out of it. Anko was having none of that. She was the girl's sensei, and she would teach her what she considered appropriate. Old man Homura's lessons about political negotiations were really helpful in dealing with that pompous ass without actually uttering a single derogatory remark or open insult. In light of that conversation she understood Hinata's attitude about her clan much better. Hiashi seemed to be solely concerned with Hinata's lack of aptitude for her clan's style, which was just idiotic. Not every member of a clan was good in that clan's specialization and Anko already knew that Hinata was quite gifted in other fields. It would be a complete waste of the girl's potential to focus her training on the Gentle Fist.
"Being a kunoichi is a dangerous profession, Hyuuga-san. There is always the possibility of dying on a mission."
"I do not care if Hinata lives or dies. The Hyuuga clan has no use for a weak successor." Hiashi declared.
Before Anko could really parse that statement, the door behind her opened and Hinata entered with a tray of refreshments.
'Shit. I really hope she didn't hear that.'
That hope proved to be futile. After Hinata had set down the tray and turned away from her father Anko saw a single tear rolling down her cheek. The unsettling thing was that Hinata's face never lost the neutrally pleasant expression she had worn when she entered. Her father couldn't see her face because of their relative position, and she signaled Anko with a slight shake of her head not to pursue that avenue of conversation before she left the room. She would have to talk with her later. Hopefully the girl would confide her in.
Anko slightly narrowed her eyes. She would do her utmost to gain complete control over her female pupil's training. Not only was it her right as sensei; these assholes certainly didn't deserve her.
"Hyuuga-san, I'm sure you are familiar with the training accords of the Nidaime Hokage and the edict concerning the authority of a jonin-sensei decreed by the great council fifteen years ago…"
"… no use for a weak successor." the voice of her father declared.
Hinata had heard his complete statement, but didn't let it affect her outwards appearance. Only after she had turned around did she permit herself to react. Over the years she had lost her affection for her clan completely. She was more or less indifferent to most members and actively hated a select few, her cousin among them. Still, in some deep hidden corner of her heart she had harbored the hope that her father held some amount of affection for her under his stern exterior. This hope now died, causing her to shed a single tear for the shattered dreams of a happy family her younger self once held.
When she left the room she felt another feeling blossoming in her heart. Freedom. It was extremely liberating now that there was no bond of emotional nature left to her clan. Her father had been the last one, but now he was only that man that held some authority over her. Well, she still loved her sister, but that love was completely disassociated from her clan. Little Hanabi did look up to her for her self-control and knowledge, even if her lack of prowess in the Gentle Fist would forever prevent her from gaining the respect of the rest of her clan. Not that she really wanted it anymore. Her clan was dying; the members only didn't know it. She only did enough training in the Gentle Fist style to keep them off her back. It simply wasn't an effective use of her time. Hinata had made great strides in many other disciplines; progress she couldn't have made had she concentrated on one taijutsu style that wasn't suited to her.
Unfortunately, the talk about marrying her off to another main house family had increased. There were probably only around four years of freedom left for her. In general clan ninja married very young; it was a necessity of their lifestyle. There was always the danger of dying on a mission, and the clan had to continue somehow. In the same vein, there were always fewer kunoichi than shinobi. A male could always impregnate several women, but the reverse wasn't true. The establishing of the villages had reduced that need somewhat, but most clans continued with that tradition. Hinata hoped she would be powerful enough by that point to put it off further, or that she wasn't needed anymore directly in Konoha for Naruto's plans and could fake her death. Still, if worst came to worst she would go through with the marriage. She may have to spread her legs for her potential future husband, but she would make sure that no child ever came out of that union. Considering the frighteningly large likelihood that any offspring she produced with another Hyuuga would have one or several birth defects she was doing her potential children a favor. As long as she had Naruto in the world that nobody else could reach she would be able to endure almost anything, but having children with another man was not one of those.
"Finished already?" an astonished Anko asked.
Naruto shrugged. "It wasn't that difficult. You only have to know how to deal with animals."
Anko's attention shifted to the feline in Choji's arms. Tora the cat was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible while pressing itself tightly against Choji's body. Occasionally the cat sent cautious glances towards Naruto and Hinata. When Hinata began to smile gently the cat seemed to shudder and make itself even smaller. A quick inspection showed no obvious injuries, so whatever her genin had done to the cat had left no physical traces.
Mentally shrugging, Anko motioned her team to depart in the direction of the mission office. Giving her genin the mission to catch Tora as their second mission after the original scavenger hunt would be considered cruel and unusual punishment by most people, but Anko had figured her team would cope. Tora was widely known as one of the most vicious animals kept as a pet, and that reputation was completely deserved. The cat belonged to Madame Shijimi, the widow of the previous daimyo of the Land of Fire. Or rather one of his widows. At the end of his life the late daimyo had kept six wives and an even larger number of concubines. Despite that huge number of females the daimyo had never produced even a single child, which had been one of the main causes for the succession struggles. Madame Shijimi had long been set aside even before his death, and she had settled in Konoha.
There was no legal upper limit to the number of woman a man could marry (or more rarely the other way around, a queen of what was now the Land of Wind had managed to collect fifteen husbands around 130 years ago), even if most men contended themselves with only one wife. Only very rich people or nobles ever took more than one spouse because only a life in luxury or high social status could compensate for the inevitable conflicts that would break out. Informal arrangements where both partners took their own lovers to make a loveless marriage more bearable were vastly more common. In her job Anko often looked behind the façade, and the things she found there were seldom pretty. Depressingly few people were able to marry for love, and even then there was no guarantee that the feelings would survive the years.
When they arrived at the mission office Madame Shijimi was already waiting there, chatting with one of the chunin on desk duty. To the surprise of everyone who had ever witnessed a 'Find Tora'-mission, the cat sent a last look towards Naruto and Hinata before it seemed to sigh, jumped to the floor and trotted over to its owner. When it rubbed itself against Madame Shijimi's leg the woman noticed the animal.
"Ohh my cute little Tora-chan! I was so worried." Astonishingly, Tora weathered the following display of animal cruelty without making the slightest fuss, causing every occupant of the room to look at the scene in bewilderment. After the noble lady had paid the fee and left, Anko approached one of the chunin to collect her team's pay. It took the woman a few seconds to shake herself out of her stupor.
"What did your genin do? I never saw Tora behave that docile before."
Anko could only shrug. "I have no idea. There were no physical marks on the cat, so whatever they did left no injuries. They are fresh from the academy; the team formed only two days ago, so I don't have a complete overview over their skills yet."
The chunin boggled at that. "It's their third day as full genin, and you requested the Tora-mission? You are a cruel woman, Mitarashi-san."
A smirk appeared on Anko's features while she accepted the money envelope. "Well, what can I say? I wanted to show the little buggers how nasty even D-ranks can get." With a wave of her hand she left the mission office in the direction of their reserved training ground, her genin behind her.
She had picked today deliberately as a mission day because she knew that the Hokage was tied up with several different tasks and had no time to appear in the mission office. It was part of his modus operandi to give the elite genin teams some missions personally to foster the impression that he cared about everything that happened in the village. In reality he was far too busy with other matters and simply entered the mission office a few minutes before the genin appeared and left immediately after them. It was a suggestion from her mentor to keep the contact between the Hokage and her pupils to the minimum she could manage without rousing suspicion.
Homura had briefed her on the importance of Naruto when he told her about her team. The jinchuuriki had been the Hokage's pet project from the beginning, and Homura thought that he was mishandling the situation completely. Naruto still wasn't supposed to know what he contained, which was pure madness. Anko knew that he knew, but she had kept that knowledge to herself. She was part of Homura's political faction now, but she would never compromise the trust of her friends or genin for that. At least, not without clear indication that doing so would do great harm to Konoha.
"This isn't much money." Naruto remarked when he counted his share.
"Well, yeah. D-rank pay is negligible. It keeps you fed with some left-over money for equipment, but the usual time investment to pay ratio means that you can't really save up much. C-ranks are much better, but you aren't cleared for that level yet. You know about the different mission grades?" Receiving nods from her genin she continued. "We will have to complete at least ten D-rank missions until you qualify for C-ranks, and you will have to pass my personal test before I allow you to accept them. The one today was the second, meaning we have eight to go. The time not spent on missions we will use to train."
Anko continued to explain the mission system in more detail. Shinobi who belonged to a division or department received basic pay simply for their membership, and their normal duties were treated as missions with some additional pay. Normally they didn't have much say in exactly what missions they received; they were simply assigned, although there were exceptions. It was different for shinobi without such an association. While they could be directly assigned missions by the Hokage's office it happened relatively rarely in times of peace. Missions that weren't directly linked to a division were put in a pool and could be accepted by these shinobi if they fulfilled the requirements stated in the mission request. It was a much freer existence, but it lacked the security of steady employment. Many shinobi were somewhere in between. They worked part-time in a department or two and took missions from the general pool the rest of the time.
"We are currently in a special spot. There is a separate pool for genin teams consisting of these basic D-rank missions to familiarize them with the system. In due time we will move to the normal pool of C-ranks. A few months down the line we will either be assigned missions directly by the Hokage, fulfill missions the various divisions give out in order to showcase the typical work of their department or continue using the general pool. By then it's very likely that some members are switched out temporally for specific missions or a chunin or jonin other than me takes command of you for a mission." Anko explained. "For the next few months you are solely mine to command and teach, but after that things will get mixed up a bit. I will remain your teacher for about two or three years."
"What about the time after that? Will we stay together?" Choji asked.
"That depends a lot on you and how our team performs. If the formation proves effective it is likely that the team will be permanently kept in service for quite some time. That was the case with your father's team, Choji. The Sannin are or better were another example. Otherwise the team will be dissolved, and you will be either assigned to another elite team or more likely you will be free to decide what you want to do. Anyway, that's still a long way off." Anko gave them a grin. "For now you have to live with me. It's time for another training session; I want to see what they taught you about ninjutsu."
After concluding today's training she sent the team home when it began to grow dark. All of her pupils had displayed a good grasp of the academy jutsu, and the speed and accuracy of their hand seals were good. They all had displayed good chakra control and no sign of running low on chakra, which said good things about their reserves. Tomorrow she would test them on their weapons skills after they did a mission, but it was already clear that her genin were far more advanced than anticipated. In fact, they were suspicously better, and Anko had already begun to make some inquiries at the academy. She had booked their current training field only until the end of the week, and while she had the right to extend the reservation it didn't seem necessary. Anko nodded to herself. Yes, next week they would migrate to one of the larger training grounds in the vicinity of the village. Hopefully number thirty-six was still free; aside from a training field it had a nice mix of forest, grassland and a bit of swampy terrain along the river.
Obsidian eyes examined Naruto while he was telling of their new sensei. After a few seconds the figure raised a feminine hand to interrupt his speech.
"Son, I'm sure you want to tell me about your week now, but it will have to wait a bit. My time here is severely limited. We have to conduct the test now."
Naruto winced slightly. He had once again let himself be carried away. Scratching his head sheepishly he replied "Sorry dad. Shall I proceed as planned or did you come up with any modifications?"
Hinata's body shook its head, and Naruto couldn't suppress a slightly unsettling feeling. It happened relatively rarely that his father or mother took possession of either him or Hinata when the other was still present, but it always disturbed him to a degree to see Hinata's body act completely different than normal. The changed eyes were an easy to see difference, but that didn't make the experience any less surreal. Hinata had told him that she felt largely the same about it when it happened to her.
"No, there aren't any changes. This time use your own magic to call for my power with the agreed upon words. I will stay here to observe directly, and if anything like last time happens I can immediately interfere."
The first test to use the magic power of his father in the waking world had been a failure in many regards. While his father could send him power directly, he just couldn't do anything with it. In fact, he had been almost overwhelmed and was forced to emit the power in an uncontrolled fashion before it destroyed him. The clearing they had used for that experiment still hadn't recovered. Why the magic had manifested in exactly the way it had was a mystery, but an area with a diameter of exactly thirty meters was now permanently plunged into eternal winter. Naruto suspected it was because he had thought 'cool down' to himself when he struggled with the rush of power. It was quite strange to change from Konoha's normal temperate climate into an environment with a temperature far below the freezing point of water with a single step. Even more strangely the zone wasn't affecting the weather or temperature beyond its boundary in the slightest. His father could probably dispel the effect, but he wanted to study the zone's long-term behavior. On the positive side, it had enabled several very fun snowball fights between him and Hinata.
For this experiment they had chosen another small clearing in the sanctuary. It would have been far too dangerous to try it directly at the spring of magic; they didn't want to draw additional, external power for this by accident. The main difference was that Naruto would call for the power of his father with a pre-defined purpose in mind instead of Daiki simply sending him raw power. Hopefully it would make a difference.
Naruto took a deep breath and marshaled his own magic in a very specific manner to establish the desired connection. His voice reverberated with power when he began speaking. "I call upon the Master of Mysteries to enlighten me. Unveil the secrets of this sacred place and create a symbol of ownership. Oh Keeper of Secrets, suspend your watch and give us a glance of what you guard. Lord of the Starry Night, I ask you to create a living monument connected with this hallowed ground through your bond with the Mother of Life."
It felt a bit silly to call his parents by those titles, but Daiki had said it was necessary. He was invoking them in their role as gods, not as parents, and it had to be done properly. During his speech he had felt more and more power flowing through him, and now it erupted. Silvery mist appeared from nowhere and sent tendrils everywhere. The light of the sun dimmed until the clearing was immersed in twilight, and an unbelievable amount of power was still passing through him. The mist formed a rotating column before him. Power. Colorful sparks appeared and swirled in the air, unaffected by the suddenly blowing stiff breeze. He could do everything. There seemed to be ethereal music coming from every direction. So much power. Inside of the whirling mists a shape took form. The universe was his to command, he only had to touch upon the power and wield it. THERE. WAS. JUST. SO. MUCH. POWER.
With a low whooshing sound the mist exploded outwards, thereby revealing the new object in the center of the clearing. Naruto let out a gasp when the flow of power diminished and ceased. He was feeling light-headed and had to struggle to keep his attention on his surroundings. Before him stood a plant reaching higher than his head mainly composed of thick, spiraling green vines with a silvery sheen. The entire thing was littered with two kinds of hand-sized blossoms. One kind was completely black but sprinkled with tiny multi-colored spots that sometimes seemed to slowly move. The other kind was a warm yellow with orange and red highlights. Small green leaves occupied most of the rest of the space on the vines. On top of the roughly pyramidal structure a giant blossom resided. It reminded Naruto of a water lily. The petals were golden and silver, alternately. A ray of sunlight shone from overhead, and he could see a steady stream of sparkles rising from the blossom in a slow updraft. Despite the beauty of the giant flower his attention was steadily shifting inwards. Everything seemed just so simple. Each and every riddle or mystery he had ever encountered would require only a bit of thinking to solve. The secrets of the movements of the sun and stars were just beyond his grasp, he had just to contemplate things a bit and he would know everything.
'I have to concentrate. It will be bad if I let my guard down if I'm surrounded by enemies.'
What enemies? There was nothing that could stand against him. He had the Lord of the Starry Night on his side, the most powerful being in existence. His ultimate triumph was practically written in stone. Naruto shook his head in a vain attempt to clear it. Something was wrong with him, but he couldn't determine what it was. All he felt was a wonderful closeness to the essence of mysteries and stars.
"The experiment was a full success." The voice of his father cut through his thoughts. Thankfully he was somehow using his own voice instead of Hinata's. From somewhere a whisper entered Naruto's mind, telling him how it was done, but he couldn't quite hear the explanation.
Suddenly he was looking directly into the black orbs of his father. "It seems there are some unanticipated problems. Sleep now, we will talk later."
Naruto wanted to reply, but a familiar blackness was engulfing him as his mind was drawn towards the world at the edge of dreams.
Strange dreams came and went, but they were soon replaced with normal sleep. Naruto finally woke due to something tickling his nose and sunlight trickling in at the sides of the curtain at the other side of his familiar sleeping alcove. Another familiar feeling was the sensation of a warm body in his arms. Hinata's head was resting against his shoulder, and some errant hairs had found their way into his nose. In the last few months Naruto had always found Hinata in his arms when he entered the world of his parents, not that this was the only occasion. After their initial confrontation Hinata had taken to sneaking into his bed, even if it was only for the feeling of closeness and not for sex. The idea of doing it with his parents in the house just seemed too strange to him.
Not that they didn't know what was happening. When Naruto and Hinata had returned from the grove of lemon trees Youko had worn a knowing smirk, and Daiki's reactions had likewise been telling. He had looked at them seriously for a few moments before giving a nod of approval. After the first few times of Hinata finding her way into his bed a direct connection between their alcoves had appeared, and both their beds had enlarged somewhat to comfortably accommodate two bodies. After his mother had commented that they should stop being silly and just openly act like a couple they had given up on secrecy and simply went to sleep together in the same bed.
A bit of careful maneuvering later Naruto was in the right position to gently kiss Hinata awake. It didn't take her long to become awake and return the kiss.
"Good morning, Naruto-kun."
"Good morning Hinata-chan, it's time for us to get up."
Hinata sighed. "If we have to."
After stealing a few more kisses Hinata got up and left for her alcove to get ready for the day while Naruto started similar activities. A visit to the bathroom later he and Hinata joined Youko and Daiki at the breakfast table. They made only light conversation before Daiki opened the serious discussion when they were finished eating.
"Before we talk about your last week I think it best to talk about what happened immediately before I pulled you here, Naruto. I can say that our attempt at you invocating my power was a full success, but there have been some side-effects. How did it feel from your perspective?"
Naruto shook his head. "It was much better than our first attempt, but there are still enormous problems. For one, it was an unbelievable power trip. The feeling lasted even after I wasn't channeling any more of your magic, and it made it impossible to think straight. I just felt completely invincible. My thoughts just refused to focus on mundane things."
Daiki assumed a thoughtful expression. "Well, if we had priests they would probably kill for that feeling; it can be considered a religious experience. You came very close mentally to the domains of my portfolio you invoked. Still, it is extraordinary inconvenient for someone in your position. I can teach you techniques to help dissipate the effects, but it isn't an instant process. Depending on the amount of power you call forth your thinking will be impaired for several hours at least."
"Great. Once again a way to get powerful is a bust." a very frustrated Naruto said.
"I wouldn't say that. You can't use it for everything, but it is virtually the greatest power you can bring to bear in the real world. It is on the level of full nine tails of my chakra while being far more flexible. Our domains encompass practically everything, meaning you can create arbitrary effects. It is even independent from external sources of magic, but they would make things easier. You only have to weigh carefully when you use that power." Youko interjected.
"Depending on the amount of power you use it puts up a big red flag saying 'I'm here! Please try to kill me now!' to every higher being that pays attention. The sanctuary has wards to prevent it from being easily discovered, but outside of that it will be obvious. It doesn't put the same mental strain on you as the possessions, but it will screw up your magic and mind for a while. The more often you call upon this power the more protracted the recovery phase will be. Still, it is the ultimate ace in the hole. Use it only carefully planned or if you have no other choice. For most other occasions that call for the big hammer use your mother's chakra." his father added.
The blond boy grimaced. Naruto didn't like to use his mother's chakra, even if he was far too practical to refuse using it. Aside from the problem of controlling the bloodlust and assorted side-effects it just felt wrong to use something that didn't belong to him and was a very part of Youko's being. To Naruto it felt like he was hiding behind his mother's skirts like a baby who couldn't stand on his own legs.
Anyway, it had been a arduous process, but by now he could control one tail easily and two with difficulty. While his mother was giving him that chakra willingly, her mind wasn't in the seal anymore. This meant that she couldn't help him control it. Due to some peculiarity of the seal's structure he had to always draw on the demonic chakra first; and that made thinks difficult. Demonic chakra was naturally violent and destructive, and it made maintaining control and not letting it influence him too strongly unbelievable hard. It didn't help that it was quite a power-trip. Whenever he lost control he automatically started drawing more and more chakra. Fortunately for him there were only four tails worth of demonic chakra inside of the seal. If he started to draw more the next one he got was a tail of divine chakra. Uncontrolled, demonic and divine chakra didn't go well together, knocking him entirely out of Kyuubi-mode. The only downside was that he felt as if somebody had put him through the wringer when it happened.
Ever since the third year of his life when Daiki had changed the seal there were four tails of demonic and four tails of divine chakra inside of it, in addition to a single tail of neutral chakra. The last one he wouldn't be able to draw upon in any case; it kept the whole construct stable. Still, eight tails of chakra were nothing to sneeze at. Well, as soon as he managed to expand his control enough to use them that was.
"Well, enough of that for now. How is your sensei? The last time we spoke it was the day Mizuki brought you the news that Hayate had been replaced by you old acquaintance Anko."
Naruto thought for a moment, "Well, she isn't what I expected. Anko is much more serious than before. From her reputation I half expected her to pull out some snake summon to chase us around or draw and lick our blood like she did to me. Instead she's professional and, well, nice."
"That isn't so strange. We already knew that she became councilor Homura's agent. I guess she grew up a lot in that time. Additionally, while it's fine to terrorize people for a specific purpose it doesn't really work for building trust and teamwork. She certainly was right scary when she worked as an assistant proctor in the chunin exams two years ago. I think she only keeps her blood thirst and other unsavory parts of her personality in check until we know each other better. Or these traits could only be an act, but who knows? After all, we will most likely be together for several years." Hinata voiced her opinion.
"What about the other teams?"
Naruto snorted. "Shinji is a wuss. From what Yakumo told me he would probably be far happier as an unremarkable accountant or something like that. Unfortunately for him he's now along for the ride, and we have no use for deadweight. That could get the girls killed. He will shape up one way or another. As a last resort Ino can always mind-rape him into a more useful state of mind, but we really hope to avoid that. Kurenai is nice and capable, but Yakumo didn't think she would push her students enough on her own. That won't be a problem with Ino and Yakumo though. It's interesting how much Kurenai and Anko differ in their methods even it is the first time for both them to teach genin. I didn't have the opportunity to talk with Shino."
"He will probably have to kick both Kiba's and Asuka's asses to establish leadership and hound Asuma for more stringent training. I'd love to see their faces when he does that; both of them think of themselves as natural leaders." Hinata said before laughing lightly.
"How did Anko react to your skill level?" Youko asked curiously. "From what I know of her she is a woman after my own heart, and I don't think she will simply accept your prowess without making inquiries."
"She's already become very suspicious. There wasn't really any chance for us to keep things under wraps much longer. Our sensei spends most of the day with us, and it would have been impossible to play normal genin and not hamper our progress. We haven't shown her that much until now; we want to see how she reacts and whom she asks. I already instructed Mizuki to expect visits from one or all of the teams' senseis." Naruto answered.
"Alright, kids. Today I'm teaching you a jutsu." After the cheering had died down and her pupils were watching her attentively, Anko made three hand seals, inhaled and spit out a small ball of fire straight up into the air. The speed of the thing was relatively slow, and after it reached a height of about a few dozen meters it began sinking back to the earth even slower. It hit the ground a dozen meters away and continued burning before guttering out after about ten seconds. "The flame arrow is a D-rank jutsu and relatively easy to learn. It has limited use in combat because it doesn't do much damage and the accuracy sucks against man-sized targets. The reason I'm teaching it to you is that it is very useful as a means of communication. The color of the flames can be set by the user, meaning we can use it to deliver a limited number of signals. Naturally, it is most useful in nighttime conditions, but the fire is bright enough to use it even in daylight and the hover time is long enough to make it worthwhile." The following few minutes were spent with an in-depth explanation about the jutsu's inner workings before she sent the three genin to train in its use towards the other end of the field.
Anko meanwhile used the free time to catch up on some paperwork. Her nomination for the spot of jonin-sensei had come very late, and she still wasn't finished with completing all the necessary documents. The kids should be kept busy for the next few days with learning and mastering the jutsu, enabling her to finally get rid of the stuff. She was close enough to the children to intervene if something went wrong, but far enough that she could complete her work in peace.
It was with no small amount of astonishment that Anko learned that her pupils had all mastered the jutsu by the end of the day. Granted, it was a very easy one, but still. After complimenting them she sent them home for the day. She had them only for two weeks, but it was everything she had hoped to find in teaching a group of children. They were punctual, took the training seriously, didn't cause trouble and already knew a large number of necessary shinobi skills. Their teamwork was already very good, and they all got along splendidly on a personal level.
In short, they were the perfect team of fresh genin and every teacher's dream… which made them suspicious as hell. One child prodigy who kept his skills under wraps during their entire academy time she would have been able to accept, but her entire team? To make matters worse, they weren't the only ones. Kurenai's two girls were likewise far more capable than expected, and her friend was full of praise about the two. Anko had spied on them while her own genin were busy with a mission. The two girls displayed skills far in advance of anything their peers could normally do. She could only attribute it to Kurenai's relative inexperience as a jonin, the tendency to see the best in people and her hesitation to push her students to the fullest that her red-eyed friend hadn't become openly suspicious until now. After all, Kurenai had advanced directly from chunin to jonin only half a year ago, while Anko had been a special jonin for several years even before her promotion to full jonin two years in the past. Which meant that she had far more experience with complicated and difficult situations as well as command experience, not mentioning all the tutoring Homura had given her.
On Asuma's team it was the Aburame boy who was far more skilled than the other two. It had been quite funny to watch him knock down the dog boy and the little fireball a peg or two. Really, it had been a beautiful display of showing who should be the leader among the three. Still, his prowess was another extremely suspicious thing, especially because the Inuzaka kid wasn't a slouch like some other students. Asuma definitely had noticed something, but he seemed content to watch the development of things for quite a while before he would take any sort of action.
Kakashi's team in contrast seemed normal. Oh, there were problems, but the absence of the usual initial difficulties on her team was far more suspicious than their presence. She wasn't on especially good terms with Kakashi; the man had seemingly never forgiven her that she had switched from the Hokage's political faction to Homura's and his entire demeanor rubbed her the wrong way. That meant she had only very vague information on his team. The pink-haired girl was very good academically but seemed to lack the right mindset for being a kunoichi while the Nara was lazy. In contrast, the last Uchiha was very good for an academy graduate, and he was on the top end of what she would have expected judging from the curriculum. There were some problems on a personality level with that team, but that wasn't what interested her. No, the truly interesting thing was that all six suspicious genin were far better than the Uchiha who had earned the overall best grades in their academy class.
All three of her genin, two of Kurenai's and one of Asuma's were far better than should have been possible. They all came from different backgrounds, and their grades hadn't shown any capabilities out of the ordinary. Anko had talked with their former teacher Iruka about them, but it had been a bust. The man definitely suffered from Mother Hen-syndrome judging from how he spoke about the kids, but he couldn't tell her anything that didn't appear in the official records. Records which were definitely wrong.
That left only one avenue of investigation. Anko had only time to review their files rather superficially on her first pass; the days after she received the appointment had just been too hectic. By now she had corrected that oversight, and one little fact had caught her attention. All six genin with suspicious skill levels had been part of the same study group. She had noticed it before, but originally didn't think there was anything out of the ordinary about it. Now though she thought differently, and her current project for this evening was tracking the teacher down who had supervised the group.
She found the man occupying a secluded training ground. From the distance she couldn't spot exactly what he was doing, but it looked a lot like testing a new jutsu judging from the fact that he repeated the same motions again and again while scribbling occasionally in a small notebook. Anko decided to wait at the edge of the training ground. Jutsu creation was a very volatile process, and she didn't want to cause an accident by surprising the man. Instead she watched him with interest. The sun was already below the horizon, but there was still enough light to see clearly. Successful jutsu creators were relatively rare, even if many tried their hand at it.
Suddenly a huge number of tiny lights were covering the area before the man and she could make out a faint "Eureka!". The technique looked certainly interesting. It reminded her of a field of fireflies with how the moths of light were randomly curving around. She felt a bit of disappointment when the man ended the technique; it had been a beautiful sight. When the white-haired chunin approached the edge of the training field he spotted her and changed course towards her.
"Good evening, Mitarashi-san." he greeted her. They had met briefly when the jonin were assigned their pupils, but the Hokage and Iruka had done most of the talking.
"Good evening, Mizuki-san. If I may ask, what was that jutsu?" Anko asked curiously.
The man smiled. "That was the first successful test of one of my original techniques. Unfortunately I don't have much time to work on them during the academy term, so I have to squeeze my work into the summer and winter breaks. I call that one Field of the Dancing Fireflies, but it isn't completely finished yet. Now, what can I do for you?"
Anko phrased her request carefully. "I have a few questions about the genin of my team. Their files and Umino-san weren't especially helpful in clearing up some things I noticed; with you being the supervisor of their study group I hope you can give me a better insight."
"Ah, I wondered when the first of you would show up. Care to join me for a drink so we can discuss matters?" he asked with a smile.
Several minutes later they had retired to a quiet corner of one of Konoha's countless bars. This one was relatively expensive, but the privacy of the patrons was guaranteed.
Mizuki opened the discussion. "Naruto already told me to expect you in the next days. I take it you are aware that he hid his intelligence and skill for a long time?"
Anko nodded. It had been around three years ago that Naruto dragged a completely wasted and nearly comatose Anko out of the gutter into his apartment. When she woke up they had spoken about many things. She had learned that he was very skilled for his age, knew about the Kyuubi and hid his skills from the world at large.
"At first it was only Naruto who was bored by the normal lectures, but he had gotten his friends to follow his very demanding training schedule. At the time I was discontent with the curriculum and wanted to teach more and different things, but you know how things are. Somehow Naruto learned of my leanings and approached me for private tutoring during the third year. Starting with fourth year it developed into a study group. I don't know which of the children's parents pulled the strings, but someone assuredly did for me to supervise that group." Mizuki shook his head and smiled in fond remembrance. "Never before had I the honor of tutoring such determined and gifted students, and I don't think it will happen again. At the end we were already covering chunin-level subjects, with some forays into jonin-level material I got my hands on." He looked directly into Anko's eyes. "I know it wasn't exactly legal, but all of them had the necessary maturity. They used virtually every free moment of time to become better in one subject or the other. I simply wasn't willing to refuse the children something which might make the difference between life and death, and soon I was already up to my neck in illegal material. By that point I saw no reason not to go the whole way."
Anko raised an eyebrow. "And you managed to keep that all under wraps directly under Iruka's nose without anyone noticing? That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence regarding his aptitude as a teacher."
Mizuki hesitated for a moment. "Iruka isn't a bad teacher per se, but I don't think he has the correct mental outlook. The entire academy is treated pretty much like a normal school, but we are teaching the children to become killers and soldiers. There is too much obfuscation and teaching of non-relevant knowledge. He just can't imagine that some of his precious children can pull off such a study in secret and then deceive everyone about their learned skills. The fact that no one believes it possible helped us as much as the children's skills at deception."
She leaned back in her seat and thought about what she had heard. The point about deception was well taken. Giving people largely what they expected to see would cause them to overlook a lot of incongruent details that didn't fit their world view. It was only this part of human nature that had allowed Naruto to pull off his long-term deception.
Anko couldn't really fault Mizuki for going beyond the boundaries of the law. Hell, she herself had been appalled by the standards of education and quality of the graduates. Who was she to fault a teacher who wanted the best for his students and took steps to remedy the situation? After all, he didn't harm anybody or Konoha by giving talented students extra education.
"How good are the children really?" she finally voiced the main question.
"It's difficult to say because they haven't been in the field, but in my opinion they are better than most genin with several years of experience. Each of them knows the basics of each subject of shinobi knowledge, even the ones not normally taught at the academy. I don't want to betray their trust, but I can honestly say that they have better physical abilities and skills than some chunin of my acquaintance. What they lack is the practical experience you can only get by really working as a shinobi." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Your students in particular have an interesting set of abilities. Naruto has acquired knowledge of jutsu creation, but until now he has limited himself to non-combat techniques. His skills at tracking, trap setting and wilderness survival are better than my own. Additionally he is very good at sneaking around. Hinata is almost as good in covert operations as he is, but her real specialty is medicine. The girl could probably pass the entrance exam for medic-nins tomorrow. It's a real shame her clan doesn't appreciate the pursuit of anything other than the Gentle Fist, so she has to keep that talent hidden for now. Choji is surprisingly adept at information gathering. He will never be able to match Hinata or Naruto in moving undetected, but he has an almost uncanny ability of picking up information by simply talking to people. I haven't taught them any specific taijutsu styles. Instead I had them working on their general combat abilities. Yakumo Kurama has taught them some low-level genjutsu, and I have shown them some simple techniques. Their chakra control is simply phenomenal for children of their age. All of them are able to use tree climbing and water walking easily. They have made some study of elemental training, but I don't think they have achieved mastery in one element. Does that answer your question?"
Anko only nodded dumbly. That was far more than she had expected. A grin was slowly spreading across her face the more she thought about it. If all the children were indeed such prodigies thanks to their determination they would become legendary under her tutelage. Heck, she probably wouldn't even have to waste time with bringing them up to a level where she could take them on C-ranks outside of the village. She would have to verify Mizuki's appraisal, but if they had indeed become that good under the instruction of the chunin there was no telling how high they might rise if they had no longer to keep things under wraps and waste time with the academy. Additionally, as a jonin-sensei she had access to much more material than Mizuki. She might have the next incarnation of the Sannin at her hands.
"Thank you for that information, Mizuki-san. I will keep that knowledge to myself."
The man accepted her thanks with a nod. "If I might ask for a favor; I would like to meet with you a few times per months to follow the kids' progress. Naruto keeps in contact with me, but I would like to hear your perspective. Without the study group I fear I will die of boredom at the academy."
Anko blinked. "Sure, why not. I'll send you a notice whenever I have time."
At the first day of the third week her team finally finished the tenth D-rank mission. A glance to the sky told Anko that it was still early enough to begin with the next step she had planned. After her enlightening conversation with Mizuki and some days to think it over she had come to the conclusion to not press her genin. A healthy teacher-student relationship required trust grown over time, and the children didn't know her well enough yet. They had revealed from the beginning that they were much better than their files said and left her to figure out the rest. It could be seen as a game between them. Anko certainly appreciated that approach. She would have noticed anyway in due time, but this way she would learn to understand them better while the children saw if they could trust her.
This was also the reason she didn't tell Kurenai or Asuma anything, it was something each sensei had to figure out on her own. Additionally, it had led to her stepping up her schedule. There was simply no way she would stick around doing basic training if her pupils didn't need it. Now, the question how good they really were would be answered very soon.
"Congratulations, my pupils. Today marks the completion of your tenth D-rank mission. I have something special planned. Follow me."
After that announcement she took off at high speed. Not surprisingly, the kids followed her even after she took to jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Using one of the secondary gates they left the city zone of Konoha behind them. Soon the group reached the target Anko had in mind, a fenced in dark forest with giant trees. She came to a stop after arriving at one of the gates.
Anko turned around to her genin and smiled maliciously. "Welcome to training ground number 44, commonly known as the Forest of Death."
Author's notes: And another chapter finished. Thanks for the multitude of reviews, it really helps with the motivation for writing.
Next chapter team 11 will leave Konoha for their first C-rank.
So long.