The next five days passed rapidly, but the strain was definitely starting to wear on the group. In the end, it was Naruto who broke first.
"Gah!"
He slid down the side of the tree, face pinched in a frown as he failed to stick yet again.
"This is so stupid! Why do I even need this?!"
Sensei was generally very quiet, but Naruto's outburst was clearly irritating to the Jounin.
"Naruto, you need to be willing to put in the effort; every ninja needs to know this, even the Hokage-"
"Hah! What do you know! I have a technique that could knock out the Old Man! Oiroke no Jutsu!"
Sakura wanted to scream at her teammate from her spot hanging upside down high in the branches of the next tree over, but it was Hiroki's reaction that surprised her more.
"That's just a modified Henge variant."
Naruto frowned sullenly, hands folded to enhance her… assets as the Jounin simply blinked back slowly.
"It's my special Sexy Technique!"
Sensei simply shook his head slowly.
"Sakura-chan, what is the Transformation jutsu?"
She started in surprise and jumped down from the tree to land lightly on the ground.
"The Transformation technique is a simple disguise jutsu which uses chakra to form a solid shell around the body to change the physical appearance of the shinobi. There is some debate over whether it should be technically classified as a genjutsu but in general it is regarded as one of the simplest disguise ninjutsu, and is one of the three jutsu taught in the academy because of its broad applicability across your career."
Sensei nodded approvingly before he began to move his hands through a set of seals.
"If you want a real Sexy Technique, you'll want something more like this."
There was a shimmer of chakra around their instructor, before… nothing really happened? Or, no- Sakura could see that there had been several small changes to the older ninja's body; the proportions were a little off, slender hips and a little bit of a chest, and the normally close cropped hair was longer, though she couldn't see much under the mask.
"A proper 'Sexy Technique' should actually make you female. There are more advanced versions of the Transformation jutsu which can pass even a detailed inspection by anyone other than a Hyuuga. My personal variant has the advantage of providing fully functional reproductive organs, and not requiring an upkeep of chakra. However it requires extremely fine chakra control as well as an exhaustive knowledge of anatomy and familiarity with medical chakra. It also can only stretch so far; I couldn't change my DNA to obtain a bloodline I didn't have."
Sakura was perhaps very slightly envious of the figure Sensei was sporting, and Naruto seemed somewhat intrigued as well.
"So… can I learn that instead of the dumb tree thingy?"
The Jounin shook his head, reversing the transformation with an absent wave of his hand, before going 'creepy' mode and staring at Naruto with his eyes spinning.
"No. Now get going or there will be worms in your ramen for the next month."
With a yelp, the blond set back to running up the tree.
. . .
Their training grew more intense day by day in the wake of Naruto's minor tantrum but they only needed one joint session of physical conditioning with Maito Guy and his Genin team to gain an appreciation for how light and easy Hiroki-sensei's regimen was comparatively. D-ranks became a sort of vacation, though even there Sensei pushed them to complete the jobs faster and faster, using their new skills like wall-walking to make the job more challenging.
Nothing was ever easy.
Sakura dipped backwards, feet keeping her stuck to the surface of the water as a leg swept over her head. Naruto and Sasuke were a little ways off, clinging to a wall and having a bit more trouble keeping their footing while awkwardly sparring and dodging the occasional thrown shuriken. However since the team was currently only using their bodies and chakra, (which meant their brains were 'unengaged' as far as Sensei was concerned) they were also enjoying one of the Jounin's more abstract lectures.
"As a shinobi, you may occasionally be asked to perform tasks you would prefer not to. You can of course refuse any mission below A-rank that the Hokage requests of you, excepting in times of war, or if you join ANBU. Konoha cares for its ninja and its image, and generally avoids taking less palatable missions."
Their Instructor had a way of talking that was almost hypnotic; a smooth cadence that wormed its way into your head like a snatch of a song you couldn't stop humming as you walked around.
"The important thing to remember is that you will never be ordered to do anything which is morally wrong. After all, being ordered to do something is what defines an action as being morally right, so a morally wrong order is a logical paradox."
The Kunoichi wasn't quite processing the words, too focused on keeping the flow of chakra to her feet steady while throwing a punch at Sensei's unguarded side, but she thought something about that seemed a little off.
"Still, sometimes you will receive orders which you might perceive as being wrong. In this case, one of three things has happened. The first, and most likely possibility, is that your commanding officer has information which you don't. The order to poison a civilian water source, for instance," -at that Naruto gave a small squawk of appalled confusion before a spray of shuriken forced him to divert his attention with a yelp- "is likely planned because it will hamper enemy forces, relying on a larger strategy you are simply not aware of. The other, much rarer, possibility is that it is your commanding officer who is misinformed. You should avoid openly question orders, but acting in private to confirm the content of your instructions and make sure you and your commander are operating towards the same goal is acceptable in some scenarios."
Sakura's brows knit together as more of her attention shifted away from the practice to the somewhat worrying things Hiroki was saying. As her sensei continued a faintly manic gleam came over his eyes and his tone became heated in a noticeable change from his normally placid manner.
"The last and most improbable reason your orders might seem wrong is because they aren't actually orders. Only your superiors can give you orders, and your superiors, are, by definition, truer to Konoha and the Will of Fire than you are, if for no other reason than having had more time to contemplate the inherent rightness of the Village and devote themselves to its goals. The Hokage, as the highest authority in Konoha, is the physical embodiment of the Will of Fire, the avatar by which we can gain greater understanding of our purpose in life and reason for existence."
Here their sensei paused imperceptibly in his movements, eyes flickering upwards and eyelids shuttering, before his somewhat breathy and fervent voice took on the leaden tone of a cold kunai, his probing strikes at Sakura becoming a touch more mechanical.
"The Will of Fire is embodied in the Hokage, but the Hokage does not necessarily embody the Will of Fire. If Tsunade-hime strayed from her function, then she would not be the Hokage and her orders would be invalid. In a case where the individual you incorrectly perceived as your superior fails the Will of Fire, you should default to obedience to the Will of Fire Writ. In. Your. Soul. You should act to replace the false superior with a properly functioning superior as quickly as possible using whatever means necessary. Fortunately, this has never happened. Ever. The Will of Fire is perfect, total, and all consuming; it is impossible to lose it. Some simply fake possession of it for extended periods before being found out and... excised."
Sakura felt very slightly ill at his words, and the boys were both looking a little queasy too. She dodged the next punch somewhat clumsily before hopping off the river of boiling lava and back to the shore, leaving her teacher to stand on the liquid rock, staring towards her for a moment with slightly glazed eyes as she raised a hand to dispel the illusion. She felt a desperate need to talk about anything else, and sent her mind searching for a topic which could get things closer to passing for normal.
"Um… Sensei, didn't you say you'd teach us how to use a weapon today? It's been two weeks, after all…"
Her voice trailed off as she attempted to change the subject, but it seemed to work as Hiroki-sensei shook himself a little and turned to face the assembled Genin, Naruto and Sasuke having joined her at the bank of the stream. Sensei seemed to twitch again, and was suddenly back in a banally cheerful mood.
"So I did! I must say, your progress has been entirely adequate the past fortnight. Have you thought about what you might like to learn? It doesn't need to become a core part of your skill set, but having something to boost your taijutsu is a decent plan, if you're-"
"-willing to put in the effort."
The team completed their teachers oft repeated phrase automatically, eliciting a little quirk of lips behind the dark mask as an eyebrow drifted up a fraction in amusement. Hiroki clapped his hands together and began pulling out the arsenal again, setting everything down carefully on the grass, rather than the more haphazard explosion from last time.
"Quite. Now; for Sasuke, I think you might like something a little bit lighter. Your speed is good and something heavy like a mace or a glaive would just slow you down. Maybe chakram? Once your Sharingan activates you'd be able to predict their paths pretty easily; I find them kind of fun myself."
The Uchiha shifted slightly as he glanced from the weapons to Sensei and back again, before finally his eyes settled on a slim sword with no hilt.
"What about a sword?"
Hiroki nodded slowly, staring hard at Sasuke.
"Why don't you pick it up and give it a few swings, see how it fits you."
With a single hand sign, a clone of their teacher formed and led Sasuke a little ways away to show him a few beginning forms.
"Naruto? Have you thought about it much?"
"A sword! Swords are awesome, like Samurai, all pchow-shing!"
Sensei's hand hesitated over a katana, before picking it up.
"Something like this?"
At the blond boy's eager nod another clone formed and a similar scene started further along the bank of the river.
"Sakura?"
She bit her lip as she looked over the weapons; the weighted-chain was a pretty elegant tool, but… maybe the cat's-claws? ...No, those were girly; she wanted something a little more…
"Could I try the tessen?"
Sensei smiled slightly and handed her the iron war-fans, which she noted with pleasure were etched with simple but lovely calligraphy.
"A beautiful weapon for a beautiful girl. You know, my mother-"
He cut off sharply, and shifted gears again in that oddly direct way he had.
"I think you'll find they work well for you. You'll need to practice, as the forms require slight variation from the academy standard. When closed you can treat the edge like a simple blade, but when the fans are open they generate a lot of air resistance so you'll need to get used to holding them properly for blocks and deflections while still being able to move without getting slowed down."
Her teacher tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment before nodding.
"I have found them to be pretty well suited to my own style of taijutsu, if you were interested?"
Sakura blinked in surprise and nodded a little tentatively.
"Are... are you sure? If it's your personal style I wouldn't want to…"
She was quieted with a gently raised hand as Sensei shook his head.
"I don't think either of the boys would have the right mindset for it. I would be more than happy to teach you, if you desired to learn."
Her small smile was dispelled when a loud yelp echoed across the training area. It looked like Naruto had somehow managed to cut himself with his own sword, and the clone standing next to him looked just as bewildered as Sakura felt before it vanished in a puff of smoke.
Sensei rubbed at the bridge of his nose gently, eyes almost closed as Naruto sheepishly returned to place the slightly battered metal back in a row with the others.
"Well, I think not a sword, ey? But what… hmm."
The older teen appeared deep in thought, his eyes roving over the weapons. Sakura thought it might be a good idea to keep Naruto away from sharp objects, and she eyed the tonfa for a moment before the bandaged fingers of her teacher settled around what might just be the worst possible choice.
"Naruto, you tend to be a little too… energetic. You need to be more careful. You might heal from injuries in just a few hours, but your teammates won't, and neither will your eventual clients. I think a weapon which can take advantage of your enthusiasm but will force you to be a bit more conscientious might be best."
Naruto blinked for a second at the lack of direct chastisement before flushing at the light reproof, clutching the pair of sickles joined by a length of chain tightly.
"I- I know that Sensei! I'll…"
Naruto's foot scuffed at the ground, his face downcast.
"I'll do better. I promise."
Sensei's hand ruffled the flyaway blond hair gently.
"I know you will."
. . .
A/N:You didn't think Hiroki was sane, did you? Hahaha! Silly pre-corpse!