The Demon Shinobi of Konoha

by Thelow

After the Kyubi attack a decision was made by the council to train a young blonde in secret. Ten years after the attack an Anbu took joined the ranks wearing a Kitsune mask to the disapproval of the entire village. Now twelve years later a hated Anbu wants to take on his own genin team and put the mask down. Smart/strong Naruto, not OP. NaruHina future. Others undecided.

6. Training Like a Demon

The Demon Shinobi of Konoha

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Training Like a Demon

OoOoOoOoO

Regret.

That was it.

That was the feeling.

"Shikamaru…I hurt…everywhere…"

Shikamaru let his head roll to the side to look at his friend. Both were laying on their backs on the ground breathing heavily after they collapsed. Hinata was a short distance away sitting against a tree in the shade. His whole body was aching, and it wasn't even close to lunch time yet.

"Wow…you guys look pretty worn out…"

There it was. The voice of all his regrets right now. Their new sensei. The Demon Shinobi of Konoha.

"I regret accepting you now…" Shikamaru muttered.

"Ha!" He laughed at their misery. "That was funny. I was doing this routine when I started as a genin too."

A hundred laps around the entire training field, sets of pushups, squats, sit ups, pull ups and other physical conditioning exercises that were new to the three genin and pushed them to their limits. Shikamaru wanted to raise his fist up at the jōnin and shake it angrily, but the odd resistance to his movement that was coming from his wrist was preventing him from even lifting it a few inches off the ground. Instead he had settled for glaring at the blonde and the new accessories he was wearing.

-Flashback-

"Here! Put these on your ankles and wrists." Naruto called out as he tossed three bags that he pulled out of pack over to his team. Shikamaru opened the bag up to see a set of four bands like the ones that his sensei was wearing, but where Naruto's were a burnt orange color the ones that Shikamaru had were a dark gray. Glancing over to his teammates he could see that Chōji's were a dark red and Hinata's were a navy blue. Shikamaru started to open and slip on the band we he noticed some kanji on the inside of the band forming a seal he had never seen before.

"What are these?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Ero-sennin calls them resistance seal bands. I asked him to make a set for each of you when I found out I was getting a team." Naruto said as he pointed to one of the four bands on his wrist. "When all four are placed on your limbs you will feel them syphon some of your chakra and add resistance to your movement."

"Why would I want something like that?" Shikamaru complained at the objects. There was no way he wanted something that would make just moving more difficult. "And who is Ero-Sennin?"

"Don't worry about Ero-Sennin. He's just some super perv that's really strong." Naruto waved his hand in a nonchalant manner at the question. "I want you to wear them because the constant drain on your chakra will help you increase your chakra reserves, and the resistance is going to help us build up your speed and strength."

"Umm s-sensei?" Shikamaru saw that Hinata had already put on the bands and was experimenting with moving her limbs around. "H-how high is the resistance?"

"Right now, they are set to about ten percent. It doesn't sound like much but trust me it has a big effect, and I will monitor it closely. And all I want you wearing them always."

"Always?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Except when showering or bathing I want you to always be wearing them. Unless you are in a life-or-death situation, or I tell you to, I want you to keep them on. Having them on all the time will help your body adapt to the resistance at a faster pace."

Shikamaru let out a deep sigh as he sat down and attached the bands to his limbs. The moment the final band was in place he could feel the pull to his chakra as if a circuit had been completed. It wasn't much, but it was noticeable.

Attempting to stand up was on odd sensation. He knew that there were ninjas out there that liked to use weights on their limbs to help build muscle, but this didn't feel like there was something dragging him down. Instead, it felt like every movement he made was being pulled in the opposite direction of whatever he was doing.

"Okay! Let's start with one hundred laps around the training field!"

Shikamaru's eyebrows rose to new heights as his eyes went wide with the look of horror that was on his face. Looking at Chōji he could tell his best friend felt the same way as himself. Hinata had somehow seemed even paler than she had been before, and her mouth was gaped open slightly.

"You can't be serious."

"No?" His sensei seemed to be emoting his confusion with his head cocked far to the side towards his genin. "Is that not long enough? We could do laps around the village if you prefer, but I thought this would be easier on you guys. Gotta get you used to the resistance after all!"

"N-no…" Shikamaru stuttered out concerned that his new sensei was being completely serious. "Just out of curiosity. What is your resistance set to?"

"Last I adjusted was to about five hundred percent I think?" Naruto had begun doing the stretching that he had performed before they had performed their test. Shikamaru felt a little sick to his stomach at the statement. 'How can he even move if he has to put forth five times the amount of effort…he better not ever expect me to get to that level.'

"Now let's run!"

-Flashback End-

"When…did you…become a genin…sensei?" Chōji was still catching his breath on the ground.

"I think it was sometime between five and six years old that I would have been considered one. That was around when I learned how to do the shadow clone jutsu."

This raised even more questions for Shikamaru, but right now he just couldn't do it. It was too much effort. 'I think I will just watch the clouds for a minute.'

"Shikamaru has the right idea."

"Huh?!" Shikamaru startled hearing his name called. He looked at his sensei who now sitting cross legged in front of the team. Hinata was slowly making her way over from the tree before sitting in a heap with the rest of the group.

"Meditation is our next activity." His sensei assumed a lotus position with both of his palms on his knees. "What is chakra? Hinata, can you answer?"

Shikamaru and Chōji both sat up at this point to listen to their teammate talk. Hinata was chewing on her bottom lip looking nervous at speaking, but after a moment she finally talked.

"C-chakra is the energy that a s-shinobi needs to perform jutsu. It is f-formed by combining the bodies physical and spiritual energy into one."

'She stuttered less.' Shikamaru noted. 'I wonder if she is getting more used to us already or if she's just trying really hard.'

"Perfect Hinata!" Their sensei rocked a little back and forth as if he could barely contain his excitement. "We have already started working on your physical energy with our training and will continue to do so later, but for now we are going to work on the spiritual side as we rest for a bit."

"You increase your spiritual energy by gaining experience, studying or in the case of right now meditation. For the next hour until eleven we are going to sit here and meditate on what we feel we need to work on. You can meditate how you like; I prefer to sit like this, but if you want to lay back and gaze at the clouds you can."

'Okay. I can get behind this.' Shikamaru thought as he laid back and gazed up at the clouds, his eyes slowly started to drift closed.

"Shikamaru if you fall asleep, I will add on additional laps and make everyone come earlier tomorrow."

'Damn.'

OoOoOoOoO

Naruto came out of his meditation and smiled widely at the three before him. Even though they had been tired at the start of their meditation he could tell that all three were having at least some success at calming their mind and meditating. In a way he knew that meditating was like an artform that few had a natural talent for. It had taken Naruto many years to get his meditation to the level that he had it today. His guardians had insisted that he master the skill to make it both easier to commune with and defend himself against the demon inside of him.

Shikamaru, it seemed, was a natural at shutting down the influence of the outside world and only focusing on what was inside his mind while he gazed at the clouds. Chōji was struggling to reach that state for more than a minute at a time before his attention would snap back to the outside. It seemed that Shikamaru's habits had not completely rubbed off on his best friend.

Hinata's skill level seemed to be somewhere between the two boys. She would achieve the state for a few minutes before something in her mind would force a negative thought and make her snap out of it. Naruto knew that meditation was a common practice within the Hyūga clan, so he expected her to be able to handle it slightly better. Something was bothering her, and Naruto could feel it.

"Alright. Time to start our training exercise." Naruto rolled backwards and pushed himself into a handstand before pushing off and landing on his feet. Shikamaru groaned a little but stood up with a little bit of effort along with the rest of his team. "Follow me over here."

Naruto led them to a set of three large cylindrical training posts that were in the center of the open field for taijutsu practice. Once they got there, he leapt up onto one of the training posts and moved as close to the far edge as he could.

"Chōji! Come join me up here." Naruto announced as he pointed at the center of the post he stood on top of. "Hinata and Shikamaru each take one as well."

The three genin nodded before leaping up on to the top of the training posts with a little bit of effort. Once on top of the posts Naruto pulled a scroll out from his pack and unfurled it releasing a puff of smoke in the small space between the two boys. On the scroll were six plates, two bags of chips, a small box from a local bakery and two small bags.

The rumbling of two stomachs caused Naruto to smile under his mask Chōji looked embarrassed and Hinata turned an interesting color of red that Naruto had never seen before.

"Please let me explain before you do anything." Naruto said as he handed Chōji a plate to each hand that the boy accepted with a confused look on his face. He then opened the bags of chips and spilled them on the plates Chōji was holding. "I want to work on your balance."

Naruto hopped over to the post that Hinata was standing on. She was still feeling embarrassed from before and the proximity of her sensei wasn't helping now. Naruto handed her two plates as well and proceeded to put some of the different sweets he had picked up earlier on the plates. It included some cookies, tarts and even a couple of cinnamon rolls that caused Hinata's eyes to go wide. "I also want to work on your reflexes."

Naruto hopped over to the final post that Shikamaru was standing on and repeated the process of giving him two plates to hold. Naruto opened the small bags to reveal wooden shogi pieces that he spilled onto each plate. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but didn't question him yet. "This is a training method that my sensei did with me. Only difference was that I had a steaming hot bowl of ramen in each hand."

Naruto laughed as he hopped down from the posts and walked a short distance away. "Basically, I want you to make sure that nothing falls off your plates for the next thirty minutes. Chōji and Hinata you get to keep the food that stays on your plates. Shikamaru each of those shogi pieces is work two minutes of cloud gazing time during our one and one training after lunch."

All three genin still looked confused, but Shikamaru seemed to like the idea of more relaxing time.

"Sensei are we supposed to just stand here?" Chōji asked.

Naruto pulled out another scroll from pouch and unfurled it on the ground with a flourish and a pop of smoke. Naruto was grinning like a mad man and watched his students' reactions to what came out. He wasn't disappointed to see all of them pale with aghast looks on their faces as they saw the dozens of blunt kunai now laying in front of him.

"You dodge Chōji!" Naruto said with a sing song voice as he tossed one of the blunt kunai at one of his plates. The boy seemed too stunned to move and the plate was struck perfectly sending the plate and its contents off the post and onto the ground. Chōji let out a shocked gasp as he saw the chips plummet.

"Y-you monster!" Chōji shouted in horror causing Naruto to laugh.

"That's the same reaction I had!" Naruto continued to laugh, deep down a part of him wanted to tell Chōji that his own father, Choza, was the one who invented this technique on Naruto. "Only I got scalded by the broth when my ramen fell."

Naruto tossed another kunai at Shikamaru this time aiming for near the boy's hip. Shikamaru's eyes widened at the oncoming projectile, and he scooted himself to the side quickly. The quick movement caused some of the wooden tiles to slide off each plate in his hand.

"Looks like you just lost twenty minutes there Shikamaru."

Naruto tossed a kunai at Hinata's right shin hoping to get a similar reaction to Shikamaru before. Instead Hinata lifted the leg ninety degrees straight out and remained balanced on her single leg. Both plates remained completely still.

"Good job Hinata! But how about this!"

Naruto launched three kunai at one of her plates one set dead on, one was set high, and one was low. Hinata looked panicked for a moment before she twisted herself into a spin and allowed the kunai to pass by her on the side before she returned to her starting position. She had changed the angle of her hands as she spun to prevent any the sweets from flying off. There was an intense look of concentration on her face; followed immediately by shock as she looked at her plates and saw that nothing had spilled.

"Oh ho! Game on!" Naruto shouted as he formed his most used hand seal. "Kage Bunshin!"

Two more Naruto's appeared on either side of him. Each clone had its own set of kunai to use on the genin. Naruto was little surprised that Shikamaru didn't just deem the activity too troublesome and let the plates fall from his hands.

'His dad probably would have.' He snickered in his mind.

OoOoOoOoO

It made him feel sick.

He watched as crows and insects picked at the remains before him. He himself was lost in his emotions at the sight; his eyes completely glazed over. He knew that this moment would haunt him forever and there was nothing that he could do about it.

"U-umm Chōji…you c-can have one of mine if you like."

Chōji took his eyes away from where the chips that had fallen to the ground had landed. Hinata was standing there offering him a snack from her plate that survived. She had done the best of the three of them, but still only came away with just a few surviving sweets from her once full plates. Chōji only had one chip survive the onslaught, the rest had scattered to the floor to be consumed by birds and insects.

Chōji's eyes glazed over for a moment…

Shikamaru was standing there look at his palm which held only two shogi tiles. All the rest had scattered on the ground beneath the posts. In a way only having four minutes worth of cloud watching time would only torture the Nara heir; starting only to stop before he could truly appreciate the clouds.

"Thank you Hinata!" Chōji smiled appreciatively at his teammate for her generosity as he reached for the cinnamon bun that was on the plate. He was surprised when she pulled back the plate quickly before his fingers could touch the treat. He looked at her surprised.

"S-sorry…not t-the c-cinnamon bun please." Her face was flushed with embarrassment as she stuttered and moved the plate back in front of him.

"Are they your favorite?" Chōji asked he grabbed a cookie that was on the plate. Still embarrassed she nodded her head as Chōji quickly consumed the cookie. "Don't worry Hinata I understand! I don't let anyone have my limited-edition barbeque rib flavor chips!"

As he said the words, he pulled out a bag of said chips from his pack and began to munch on them. He was a little puzzled by the look on Hinata's face as she glanced between him and the fallen chips on the ground…

Chōji's eyes glazed over for a moment…

"Okay gather around!" His sensei announced.

Naruto had been walking around gathering the kunai he had thrown at them and the fallen shogi pieces that Shikamaru had dropped. He told them he was giving them a small break to recover while he collected the items before they would start on their next task. The three genin marched their way over to their sensei and gathered around him.

"That was a good start." Naruto announced happily. "We will keep doing that exercise and progressively shrink the area that you can stand on and use. This will continue to help with your balance, body control and reaction speeds. Oh! We will also mix in some reaction training into your morning runs!"

All three genin tensed at the statement. The thought of doing all of those laps and now having to dodge weapons causing them to twitch slightly. 'I wonder if Shikamaru wants to request a new sensei.'

"Anyway I want to do one more thing before we eat lunch." The genin watched as Naruto dug into one of his pouches and pulled out four slips of paper and held them up in front of them. "This is chakra induction paper."

"Chakra induction paper?" Chōji asked. It was the first time he had ever heard of unique slips right in front of him.

"That right." Naruto answered. "These beauties are made from trees that are fed and nurtured with chakra for a long time. They allow us to tell what type of nature affinity your chakra aligns with."

Chōji could remember Iruka mentioning the different elements in one of his classes but was told that learning them was very advanced. Was their sensei trying to push too hard too fast?

"S-sensei?" Chōji and the rest of the team looked over at a flustered Hinata. "I-isn't m-manipulating nature chakra t-too advanced r-right now?"

"Not really." Was the blunt response to the question. "Shape manipulation is not usually done until you reach chūnin due the required chakra reserve and control levels needed to master it, but mastering your primary nature is extremely beneficial to your repertoire of skills."

"But that's only part of understanding your nature. Jutsu that are of your nature are easier to control and have a greater effect. Fire nature users will find that their fireballs are larger and consume less chakra, water users will suck in more water from the air, etc etc." Naruto waved his hand about in the air in a circle in a gesture to match his words. "This will tell me what techniques I should focus on teaching you."

"Here you go! Now watch me before you do anything." Naruto announced as he handed each genin a slip of paper and kept one for himself. "All you have to do is put some of your chakra into the slip and it will react according to your nature. For fire users it will catch on fire and turn to ash, lightning it will wrinkle, earth will turn to dust and crumble away, wind will split the paper in half and finally with water the paper will become damp. Now watch."

Chōji watched as his sensei pinched the paper between his fingers and channeled a little bit of his chakra in it. Instantly the paper in front them cut vertically in half. 'Amazing! So, he's a wind user.'

"As you can see." Naruto held up both halves of the paper. "My primary element is with wind, so my wind jutsu are more powerful than the average person. Now that doesn't mean can't master jutsu and gain affinities for other elements, that is still something you can do. Now you try!"

Chōji stared at the piece of paper clasped in his hands. For some reason it was making him feel nervous starting at the sheet of paper. His family had always been primarily earth and fire users, a trait that he desperately wanted to share his dad. Many of his family's techniques used one of those elements in its preparation and execution.

Taking a deep breath, he channeled his chakra into his paper. To his great joy the paper in his hand started to turn to dust and crumble away. A bright smile was on his face as he looked up. 'Earth! Just like dad.'

"Earth!" Chōji announced.

Chōji glanced over to see his friends paper get set on fire and turn to ashes that floated away. Chōji knew that the Nara family techniques use a different form of chakra manipulation all together, but those were deep secrets that only they knew. If fire was a pleasing result Chōji couldn't be sure because Shikamaru showed no reaction.

"Fire." Shikamaru muttered out.

On the other side of him stood Hinata with her eyebrows furrowed together as she stared at her slip of paper with confusion. Chōji could see that the paper in her hands had become soaked with moisture. 'It looks like Hinata is confused about her elements.'

"Water?..." Hinata whispered.

"Hmm." Naruto spoke as he rubbed his chin under his mask. "I expected Chōji and Shikamaru to be either fire or earth, but I didn't expect water Hinata. Everyone in your family is either earth or lightning. Not that it means anything!"

Chōji had noticed Hinata's gaze started to drift downwards as their sensei spoke. She seemed to be pretty upset about this, but when Naruto suddenly shouted out the last his last comment it made everyone jump slightly. Hinata was also back to looking directly at their teacher.

"Don't worry too much about being attuned to water Hinata." Chōji could see the apprehension in Hinata's eyes, but his sensei also seemed to have noticed. "Knowing your element will help me a lot in your training."

'He is reassuring.' Chōji thought. He had always been good at telling when people were upset. Shikamaru said that it was one of the traits that he really admired about Chōji. In their relationship Shikamaru would often refer to Chōji as the heart of the pair and Chōji would tell Shikamaru that he was the brains.

"Oh good lunch is here!"

Chōji snapped out of his thoughts to see a clone of his sensei walking across the training field carrying several large bags in his arms. A heavenly broth scent wafted across the field on the wind to Chōji nose causing him to drool. The clone arrived in front of the group and set down the bags and pulled out the individual containers of take out that was inside. Chōji saw the Ichiraku name printed on the side of the containers.

"I got two beef, three pork, three chicken, two seafood and two vegetables. Sorry, but I don't know everyone's taste yet, so I just got some of everything. All the broth is miso though, didn't want to get too complicated." Naruto sat down and grabbed one of the bowls of pork. "Come on Ichiraku ramen is the best! It's my treat!"

All three genin glanced at each other before sitting down in front of the stacks of ramen. Chōji reached for a beef, Hinata for a seafood, and Shikamaru went for a chicken. Chōji started to pop the lid open on his container when he saw the hand of their sensei reaching for a vegetable ramen.

'Done already?!" Chōji thought in shock as he looked and found the now empty container of ramen sitting next to their teacher. 'Wait! His mask!'

His two teammates also seemed to pick up on this fact as they all stared intently at their sensei as he popped off the lid of ramen. He lifted the noodles up with his chopsticks and brought it towards his mask. The genin's felt their jaws drop of the food seemed to phase right through the mask and came back out and went for another bite of food.

"It's a pretty simple genjutsu that Anbu uses to keep their face hidden." Their sensei remarked as he went for another bite. He had clearly sensed their disappointment. "My mask is actually up higher on my head while I eat. I will dispel the genjutsu after I finish eating and put it back down. Please don't try and dispel it while I eat."

Chōji accepted the explanation easily. It made sense that Anbu would have to take meals or drink without revealing their identity in public. What bothered him now was the speed that his sensei ate his ramen at. Chōji hadn't take a bite yet and their sensei was done with one and half already. His Akimichi blood just couldn't accept such a thing.

"Can't Hinata just see through your mask anyway?" Shikamaru asked. Chōji turned to look at said girl to see her shaking her head no.

"N-no." She stuttered softly. "I can't see through it."

"Konoha Anbu have a special fabric cast into their masks that absorbs a tiny amount of chakra from the mask wielder when it is put on. The chakra runs through the fabric to create a sort of chakra shield that can prevent the byakugan from looking through." Naruto answered as he finished his second bowl. "It's not enough to even be noticeable, but the thin layer of chakra does the job."

'This is so good!' Chōji didn't realize just how hungry he was as he started inhaling the ramen. He had some snacks throughout the morning, but it certainly wasn't to his normal level. And using his family's jutsu this morning burned a lot of his calories. He quickly finished his first bowl and reached for bowl of the pork ramen. He noticed that after inhaling two bowls of ramen his sensei had suddenly stopped and was just sitting there.

"Are you done sensei?" Chōji asked.

"For now." He responded jovially. "I want to make sure you three get your fill. You all burned off a lot of energy today and it is important to eat up. Especially with your calorie control Chōji."

Chōji's eyes widened as he heard his sensei so casually mention his family's hidden technique. Calorie control was the basis of all of the techniques that his family used and was considered a secret of the clan that was only shared with trusted people. 'Who told Naruto-sensei?'

"H-how do you…?" Chōji muttered.

"I know a lot about all of the clans." Naruto's tone was even toned. "It's part of the reason that I wanted to teach all of you. I can help all of you improve not only techniques outside of your family, but also help with your families' specialties."

"You know how to perform our clan techniques?" Shikamaru's question was sharp and accusing. Clan techniques could only stay in the clan, if someone knew them it could be a major issue.

"No." Naruto waved his hands in front of him to try and settle down the genin in front of him. "I don't know your families' specific techniques. I know the theories behind them and how they work, but I do not know how to perform the jutsu themselves."

"How did you learn about them?" His friend asked again.

"Experience working with your clans."

"Who?"

"Can't say."

The exchange of words between the two was rapid and direct to the point. Shikamaru's tone was a mixture of curious and accusatory, but Naruto's was completely sincere. Chōji knew that Shikamaru wanted to solve whatever puzzle this was in front of him. 'Sensei is a mystery.'

"Anyway." His sensei changed the subject after Shikamaru didn't follow up with anymore questions. "After we finish eating, I am going to split you apart and work with you individually for about an hour before we go into town to get a mission."

The three genin nodded in understanding.

"That is going to be our routine for now. We are going to meet here in the morning and start with physical exercises and reflexes, after that we will meditate to recover our strength and work on our spirit, after that we will work on chakra control exercises followed by a lunch break." Chōji noticed that the routine didn't follow exactly what they had done so far this morning, but today was probably different with the test they took. "Then we will alternate between team training and individual training every day. Finally, we will perform a D rank mission so we can earn some pay."

"How are you going to work with each of us individually?" Chōji asked after he swallowed a mouthful of ramen.

"I told you that I have a unique training method that only I can do right?"

"You mean we haven't been doing your method with this crazy training this morning?" Shikamaru asked and Chōji noticed a small twitch on his face.

"Nah. That was all pretty standard stuff I've been doing for half my life." Naruto was laughing as the three genin felt their shoulders droop. "You should be glad. Kakashi-senpai told me about another jōnin named Might Guy that makes his genin do laps around the village on their hands and do thousands of pushups."

Chōji noticed that Hinata flinched a little bit when Naruto mentioned the name of the other jōnin sensei. He wondered if she had encountered him in the past in a negative way.

"Anyway this is how I am going to teach you." Without making a hand signal there was suddenly a puff of smoke on either side of their sensei. Sitting down next to him were two perfect copies of the Anbu masked teacher. "These are shadow clones like the one you saw me use earlier. They are physical clones that I use for combat by dividing my chakra amongst them. One of us will pair off with one of you and go to work with one of you each."

"How are we supposed to train with clones?" Shikamaru asked and Chōji was wondering the same thing. Clones were supposed to be basic constructs that followed simple orders.

"There is a reason that shadow clones are actually considered a kinjutsu. Shadow clones are unique because they have their own individual conscious and because when a clone is dispelled it transfers its memories to the user and his other clones."

Chōji was deep in thought as he tried to understand why the technique was so powerful. He could see Shikamaru's shocked face and knew that he understood something that he didn't.

"Shikamaru…" He prodded at his friend.

"His clones can think and act on their own. If he trains us individually then its like having the real thing with you." Shikamaru was doing his best to explain it, but he kept stealing glances at their sensei to make sure he accurate in his explanation. "And because he learns everything his clones learn; he can exponentially increase the speed of his training."

"You hit the nail on the head there Shikamaru." Chōji could tell that their sensei was pleased. "Shadow clones are my specialty and how I have trained to my level so fast."

"Can we learn it?" Chōji had to ask.

"No." The response was quick and had a serious tone to it. "You do not have the chakra reserves to learn this yet. It has a set cost of chakra on top of dividing the chakra within your body. If you tried to perform this jutsu without at least jōnin level reserves you would likely kill yourself from chakra exhaustion."

Chōji gulped at the thought.

"When you get a point that you are strong enough I will be happy to teach it to you though."

"But you have been using this since you were a kid? How?" Shikamaru challenged.

"Because I have had that level of chakra reserves since I was a kid." Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "It's why I could train this way and get where I am at my age."

'How does sensei have so much chakra?' Chōji thought. 'Does he have a special bloodline limit? Is that why he has to keep his identity secret?'

"Still." Shikamaru spoke. "Tripling how fast you can learn things with a couple of clones doesn't explain how you are at this level."

"Couple of clones?"

Their sensei laughed before smoke exploded across the entire training field. Chōji felt his jaw drop as they were surrounded by hundreds of clones of their sensei. Each one looked at the genin and they looked like they were trying to hold in their laughter.

"I use hundreds of clones when I train. I split their work up between chakra control, taijutsu, ninjutsu practice, and anything else I can work on." All of the additional clones disappeared in a poof of smoke and their sensei paused for a second. "Clones are my specialty."

'Incredible.' Chōji thought. It made sense that he was so strong now. He had incredible chakra reserves and had been training with so many clones that he probably had the training experience at a level that could rival anyone in the world.

"How about we finish our ramen and get started with the individual training. I don't want us to start our mission too late in the day."

The three genin were still in a stunned silence, but they went back to eating their food lost in their own thoughts. Just how much chakra their sensei had and how he had attained his level was dancing around in their thoughts. Chōji reached for another bowl of ramen and pulled the lid to the delicious broth when a memory struck him.

"Umm…Naruto-sensei." Chōji wasn't trying to sound nervous, but he couldn't help it when he saw the mask focus on him. "I just remembered, but my mom wants you to come to dinner at my house. She wants to meet you."

"R-really!?" He seemed stunned and excited all at the same time from the loudness of his voice and the stutter. After a couple of seconds, he seemed to relax though. "Of course, I will, but I can't tonight. Can we do it tomorrow?"

"I'll ask my folks."

OoOoOoOoO

"Are you okay Hinata?"

Hinata had been lost in thought throughout the entirety of lunch. A person's nature chakra has never definitively been proven to be passed down hereditarily, but it was hard to think otherwise when nearly her entire clan was either earth or lightning nature. Even looking at the village it was dominated by fire users primarily, followed by earth and water. There were not many affiliated with lightning and she couldn't think of any wind users besides her new sensei.

'If it really wasn't hereditary then shouldn't the elements be more balanced out in the village?' She wondered as she ate her lunch. 'Sensei said it's nothing…but…'

Doubts still ran through her head. She was already stood out as different in her own family, but now the nature of own chakra was different than theirs as well. As much as her sensei had tried to calm her down it didn't ease her concerns about what this meant for the future.

She was distracted from her thoughts for a while when Naruto had discussed their training regimen and then displayed his clone technique. Seeing that many clones appear and him discuss how he trained with them was…eye opening. He had a monstrous amount of chakra to bend to his will.

She was also interested when Chōji asked Naruto to dinner at his home. She couldn't imagine her sensei being welcomed in one of the Hyūga dining halls. She looked at the Akimichi and wondered what it would be like to attend a dinner at his clans' home.

'I am sure the food is wonderful, and the company is much more pleasant…' She mused to herself.

After lunch she and her fellow genin separated and followed a Naruto to separate areas of the training field. She was happy to feel mostly recovered, but her body was still having some difficulty with the resistance seals that were on her limbs. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the first time that her sensei had called out to her.

"Hinata?" He was now standing directly in front of her, his mask less than a foot away from her face.

"Eep!" She leapt back in a fright from the close proximity. Her heartbeat fast and she could feel the heat coming off of her face in embarrassment. Her sensei had his hands waving in front of him as if trying to disarm the situation.

"Sorry! I called your name a couple of times. I wasn't trying to scare you, ya know."

"S-sorry Naruto-sensei!" She gave a slight bow as she apologized. "I w-was distracted."

"Hinata." His voice seemed softer than it had before. "I understand that your nature was a shock to you but trust me when it says nothing about your relationship with your family."

Hinata felt herself go rigid at the comment. It was like he knew exactly what she was thinking about. 'Am I really so easy to read?'

"I may have wind, but from what I was told my father never used jutsu related to his nature. Your nature doesn't define who you are or where you come from, it is just something that we use to add on to our abilities. You know the Sarutobi family right? They specialize in fire and earth skills, but the old man's son Asuma is actually more in tune with wind. It happens all the time."

"B-but can't it affect the skills you are able to learn?" Hinata hurried out. "C-could it be why I have difficulty with the gentle fist? With my own family's skill?"

Hinata swallowed the lump in her throat as she let out her fears. Naruto wasn't answering her and instead was just staring at her with his hands on his hips and his mask cocked slightly to the side. His silence was only making her feel worse as it made her feel like he was confirming what she already knew.

"Hinata. I don't think you are bad at gentle fist."

His voice was full of confidence, but it didn't make her feel much better. He was an outsider of the Hyūga. There was no way he could know just how much of a failure at the style that she was. The elders were the experts, and they made sure that she knew.

"There nothing wrong with your form. Your use of the striking swallow kata the gentle fist was good except for the final attack of the combination. Your movement with that one is just slightly stiff."

Hinata's mouth hung slightly agape as she looked at him. He knew the exact name of the kata that she had taken a combination attack from. He also saw the same weakness in her combination that elder Hisao had constantly tried to correct in her. 'How could he know that? The elders would disagree about my form though…'

"H-how?"

"How do I know what combination you were doing? That's because I know the kata." Hinata watched in astonishment as he took a deep breath and then slipped into a perfect gentle fist stance. His rendition of the striking swallow kata was perfect. Every move he made was precise, subtle and powerful. It was far beyond anything she had ever performed previously.

"W-wha…b-but..h-how?" She felt the color drain from her face as watched him perform the maneuvers. "T-those are Hyūga clan secrets. You can perform gentle fist?"

Was he a Hyūga this entire time? It would explain how he knew these techniques, but not why he hid his identity. The way he acted was unlike any Hyūga she had ever met at home.

"No. I can't perform gentle fist." He replied as he raised himself up out of his stance. "I know the forms, the kata and the theory, but I am not a Hyūga. Without the byakugan I cannot see my opponent's chakra and can't see exactly where I should strike."

He had explained earlier that he knew information from each of the clans, but she never expected it to go this far. It could cause a great scandal in the Hyūga clan home, if not all Konoha. She wasn't sure what to think.

'If the elders heard of this…they would demand his head.' Hinata chewed on her lip and brought her hands up to her chest as worry flooded her. Should she speak with her father about this? If someone from the clan found out that she was hiding this information…

"Hinata." She was snapped out of her thoughts as she winced in pain when Naruto grasped her by her shoulders to get her to look at him. He backed off immediately when he saw her pained look. "Are you okay? I wasn't trying to hurt you! I just wanted you to focus."

"S-sorry sensei." Hinata timidly responded. She didn't want to admit that there was still some light bruising on her arm from training session earlier in the week, but he just happened to touch a sore spot. "Just sore from my t-training."

"Okay…" Naruto seemed to accept her explanation. "Listen Hinata. You seem to be really worried about what I know. If it will make you feel better, then you can speak to your father about it. Only your father."

'Father knows!?' Surprise raced through Hinata's mind. Why would he allow her sensei to know their family style?

"Back to your gentle fist." He sounded like he was ready to change the subject. He had given her much to think about already today, but she would save her questions for her father for now. "I don't think it is bad, but you don't think so. Do ya?"

"E-elder Hisao says I have no talent…" She confessed in a whisper. "He is always adjusting my form…commenting on my ability…showing me where I am weak…"

"Hold on." Naruto held his hand up. "He is wrong. You are not to train with him anymore."

Hinata's eyes went wide, and her mouth opened and closed, but no words were coming out. He wanted her to stop training with the elder that had been assigned to her by the council? He was her sensei, but he didn't have any pull within the clan.

"I-I c-can't-"

"Yes, you can." His voice was stern but had a softness to it. "You are a Konoha shinobi now under my command. I give you this as an order because I believe it is negatively affecting your performance and could be detrimental to the team."

Hinata had no idea how to respond to this. He was her superior and he could give that order, but such a demand could have a negative impact on him if the reasoning was not just. He was making a claim without evidence that an elder from the most prominent clan in Konoha was negatively impacting her ability to serve as a shinobi.

"You don't have to tell them anything. I will speak with your father about this." He rolled his shoulders backwards and Hinata could hear a small pop in his joint. He seemed to be completely relaxed about the whole situation. "Ya know what? From now on you, unless I tell you different, you are only allowed to train with me or your father."

"F-father?!" Hinata gasped. Her father was far too busy with his private training and clan business to possibly train her. How could he possibly expect the clan leader to suddenly disrupt his business to train her?

"Yeah. It will be no problem. Trust me!"

Hinata could only shake her head slightly in disbelief. In the span of twenty-four hours her life was flipping upside down and it scared her to think about what that meant. He had so much faith in his own ability, and she just couldn't fathom having that much confidence. She desperately wanted to believe that he could do these things.

"Okay." She almost spoke just above a whisper.

"Good!" He laughed as she jumped a little bit from his loud confirmation. "Can we talk a little bit more about your gentle fist? When I asked you why thought you were bad at your gentle fist you just told me what the fool said. What do you think of your gentle fist?"

Hinata felt a little embarrassed to hear her sensei bad mouth one of her family elders, but quickly pushed it aside. Her opinion of her taijutsu had always been based off the comments of others, but she had rarely appraised herself. Instead, she always just focused on what other told her to correct.

"I-I don't know? I think that I am too slow in my attacks and my defense is not strong enough to block the attacks coming at me?" Hinata was just repeating what she had been told before by the elders.

"Is that what you think? Or is that what you've been told?" He asked. "I want to know what you think when you perform the gentle fist."

How was he able to read her so well? She was grateful that his tone wasn't accusing of her, but it didn't stop her feeling of shame at not answering how he wanted. She had never spent time thinking about the gentle fist. It was simply what was expected of her, it was her families taijutsu. When she was performing the gentle fist, she was solely focused on how to correctly perform the techniques.

"W-when I perform the gentle fist…it's the only thing I think about." She was having difficulty explaining how she felt when performing her taijutsu. "I think about my form, about how to strike, how to return to my form after attacking…"

"It sounds like you think too much." He crossed his arms in front of him as he listened to her talk. He was being patient and listening to her try and explain her thoughts. "When you get into your form do you feel comfortable? Does it feel natural?"

Hinata frowned while she thought about the question. For years she had struggled with the form that was required for the gentle fist. Constant drilling and smacks from elder Hisao had brought her to the point where she could get into the correct form automatically, but it still didn't feel quite right.

"N-no." She could feel tears forming in her eyes at the confession. She was the Hyūga heir, but the gentle fist felt unnatural to her. How could she ever hope to succeed her father if she couldn't perform her family's techniques correctly. Would she be relegated to the branch family?

"Don't worry Hinata! I had a feeling when I watched you earlier that that was the case." He put a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her a thumbs up. "You have good form; your speed is good, and you know when the right time to attack is. You can certainly learn and become a master of your family's style with enough effort."

Hinata felt her cheeks warm a little bit at the physical contact and the praise from her sensei. It wasn't something that she was used to receiving…and it felt nice.

"But I don't think that the style suits you completely." He paused for a moment and Hinata knew that it was to allow the words to sink in and allow her to focus. "You are having to overthink your moves because they do not feel natural to you. With enough time it will become completely natural, just like when you slip into your stance, but I have another idea. You have good reflexes, your flexible and when you are not overthinking you are smooth in your attacks. I think it would be best to try a different style."

"I-I don't-" Could she really do that? Could she possibly disregard her family's traditions and learn a different style? Even if something else did suit her better, it would mean the Hyūga had an heir that was more proficient in another style.

"I think that your father can continue to instruct you in the gentle fist." He cut off her thoughts. "It is something that you should still know, and I am sure he will do it."

Hinata wondered how he was so sure that her father would take the time to assist in training her. He spent most of his time secluded to his own training or handling clan business. He was said to be developing new techniques for the clan to use, but she didn't think that he had completed his work yet. Suddenly he laughed and she wasn't sure what to think.

"It's funny. I spent a bunch of time talking to you about how the nature of your chakra doesn't determine anything, but in this case, I think you relate more water. You react and bend like a river; you are not rooted and straight ahead like the earth that fits that gentle fist." He seemed to take pleasure in his revelation, but Hinata was still unsure. "I think it might be best to take the gentle fist back to its roots."

"It's roots?" She questioned.

"Yeah!" He sounded like he was really enjoying this. "The gentle fist is a style that branched from Baguazhang style taijutsu."

"Eight trigram palm?" Hinata knew that her families style was a style created to fit her families bloodline, but there was very little ever spoken about the origins of the style in her home. According to the elders it was the perfect style to fit their eyes and it had been developed over generations.

"I don't know everything about the style, but I know that your family incorporated a lot of the open palm attack style into the gentle fist." Without warning several shadow clones poofed into existence around them and quickly performed a henge to look like different Konoha shinobi that she had never seen before. As quickly as they appeared and changed, they seemed to disappear with a flicker. "They are going to collect information on the style from the libraries and training facilities. I know the basics of the style, but if we really want to master and adapt it to you, I need more."

Things were changing so rapidly that it made Hinata's head spin. Her new training routines, her chakra nature, her sensei's knowledge or her family skills, and now a completely new taijutsu style was overwhelming her. In the back of her mind, however, she was feeling a level of excitement at the possibilities. She could feel her muscles still straining to deal with the resistance bands, but even that felt good.

"I am also collecting some water jutsu scrolls that we can complement with your close combat skills." Hinata nodded her head in acknowledgement after her seemed to be waiting for her response. "Good! Now the thing to remember about baguazhang style is that you are always moving in a circular pattern and…"

OoOoOoOoO

The clone of Naruto was starting to wonder if maybe he was taking things a bit too far with his training as he watched Shikamaru trudge across the training field to join him for their one-on-one training. "Come on Shikamaru, I know you can do it."

"Agreeing to this training is the worst decision I have ever made. What was I thinking?" He muttered as he walked.

Naruto frowned as he barely heard what Shikamaru was saying. Truthfully he never expected everything to go perfectly when he started their training, but hearing Shikamaru's words had put a little bit of doubt in his plan. He knew that they grew up training in a very different way than he did, but if they wanted to advance and survive, he knew that they needed to take it up a notch for their academy and family training. That they were complaining about this level of training was a small concern for him.

'The boss didn't complain at all…' The clone thought before he suddenly frowned as he looked at the frowning Nara. 'Wait…I don't feel anything from him?'

He hadn't realized it at first, but he hadn't sensed anything negative coming from the lazy genin ever since he had been summoned. He had made his way over to this side of the field and Shikamaru followed while complaining the entire time, but there were no negative emotions rolling off him. Now that he thought about it, he didn't have any memory of negative emotions from the clone that went and retrieved food from the village earlier. Even though it was in a henge, it should have felt something while it traveled through the busy village.

'Is it connected to the Kyūbi's chakra? I am only made up of boss chakra, none of the Kyūbi's should be present.'

The clone stood there pondering the situation for a moment as he let Shikamaru rest for a couple of minutes for the shogi tiles that he managed to save in the dodging exercise. It made sense that the demon funneling chakra into him seemed to be what was giving him the ability to read the emotions of others and that couldn't transfer over to him without actively putting the bijū's chakra into the clone. That seemed to be a small weakness of the ability.

He had spent a little bit of time this morning as he observed his team doing their physical training thinking about different ways to use this new ability. It seemed like a slam dunk to him for his new sensor abilities to be used with his clones and grant him an edge when performing scouting and reconnaissance. Having to actually focus some of the chakra from the biju would draw all kinds of attention that he didn't want, but at least it seemed to work in his original self with the constant leak of chakra into his system.

Suddenly he realized that it was a good thing that the real version went off with Hinata. He had been sensing some troubling emotions from her during the chakra testing and during the lunch time. Being able to pick up on some of that would help him when he spoke with her in private.

'Is that a good thing?' He wondered. 'Am I invading their privacy in a way? I don't know exactly that they are thinking, but still…'

Certainly this ability was going to be helpful in many different ways, but now he was wondering if it was going to cause problems with his team in the future. If they learned about his ability, would they feel like he violated their trust by reading their emotions? He was going to have to speak with Inoichi about his opinion on the matter.

"What is it you want to work on?"

The clone snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed that Shikamaru was now sitting up and starting at him with calculating eyes. He was a little surprised that the Nara didn't decide to continue resting while the clone was lost in thought. Seems like Shikamaru understood when things were important.

"First I want to know what you think of the training so far."

Shikamaru scowled at the question. The clone didn't need to be able to read emotions to see that he was annoyed.

"It's tougher than anything I have ever done before; these resistance seals are troublesome and you…you are still a puzzle."

"A puzzle with a bunch of missing pieces. I guess that frustrates you."

"Yes." Shikamaru responded as he started to stand up. I said before that I do not like being kept in the dark about things. Solving problems is what I am best at, this many variables is frustrating."

"I am willing to bet that you are going to figure it out Shikamaru." The clones voice was low as he spoke, but the honesty in it rang clearly. "It may take some time, but I am sure you will solve everything about me."

"Tch…you really don't want to be hiding everything do you. What a drag."

The clone stood perfectly still for a moment in thought. Building trust on this team was going to be key to them succeeding and possibly accepting him in the future. Shikamaru was the most suspicious of the three, but he also was the most logical and seemed to have the trust of the other two; especially Chōji.

"When I was told that I was going to receive a team I was so excited." Naruto's voice turned slightly bitter. "Then I was told that had to continue to keep my identity hidden. I was so upset about that. I already have a bunch of things against me because of my reputation in the village, but now I also had to continue to hide my face and more information about myself? I'm sure you can see how that puts me in a rough position."

Shikamaru sat cross legged with his fingers tented together in front of himself as he listened to Naruto talk. The clone wondered if he was giving out a little too much information, or if this kind of personal information was really even affecting Shikamaru and his logical thought process.

"Why take a team then?" Shikamaru questioned. "Why not just wait some more time until they felt you could reveal your identity?"

"Besides thinking that I am ready?" The clone questioned. "Honestly…there are two reasons. The first is that I need to get out of the Anbu."

"Not that I hate it!" Naruto quickly added. "It's just that…it takes a certain person to do those kind of missions and always hide behind a mask. I've done my best to avoid the darker kind of missions…I prefer to take the missions a normal jōnin would take…but I can't always avoid them. And if you can't tell my personality isn't like most Anbu…"

"I can't say I have spoken with many." Shikamaru noted.

"Heh. True, I guess. Someone our age shouldn't have much experience with Anbu." Naruto let out a sigh.

"What's the second reason?"

"Ah, that's kinds of embarrassing." Absentmindedly Naruto reached up to scratch the whisker marks on his cheeks and only hit the porcelain mask upon his face. "I guess I am…ah…lonely?"

"Lonely?" The clone could see Shikamaru's eyebrow twitch slightly.

"Yeah." He couldn't scratch his cheek, but at least he could scratch the back of his head. "It's not the main reason, but it still is part of why I wanted to do this."

"Don't you have friends?"

"Not really?" Naruto responded. "The closest thing I have to a friend is Kakashi-senpai and he is more like an uncle or older brother to me. Only a few members of Anbu know me and have seen my face, but the only other jōnin who really knows who I am is Asuma Sarutobi because he is the only other wind expert in the village. Besides the Hokage and my sensei's there is no one else."

"What about our dads?" Naruto could feel himself start to sweat a little under the mask. Shikamaru was starting intently at him and was making the clone start to wonder if maybe Shikamaru was going to figure things out too soon if he gave out much more information.

"Yeah. Your dads are members of the village council and have been involved with me for a long time."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the full truth either. Telling Shikamaru that their fathers had been training him for the past decade was out of the question but telling him that it is confidential would make him far more suspicious of the relationship.

"Hmm." Shikamaru hummed. "So, you want to be our sensei and our friend?"

"Yes! I mean…only…only if you want to. I won't treat you any differently while we are acting as a team, but if you want outside of team activities…"

The clones voice trailed off as he talked. Naruto had been through diplomatic training, interrogation training and even seduction training just in case. He frowned slightly as he remembered the seduction training with the feral Inuzuka clan head instructing as the only female amongst his teachers. That had been an embarrassing experience he wanted to forget.

This was different though. He was interacting with someone with high status like a daimyo, but this interaction was just as important to him. He had no idea how to communicate with people his age, but just figured being honest and treating him as an equal would be the best bet.

"Troublesome. It's hard to become friends with someone you don't even really know." Shikamaru mumbled as he stood up and brushed the loose dirt and grass off his clothing. "I want to say no, but you just seem so earnest that its annoying. I'm not promising anything yet beyond a sensei-student relationship, but just try not to be as much of a drag as this training."

"T-thanks..." Naruto did his best to hide the emotion in his voice but was finding it difficult. What Shikamaru said did rub him a little wrong though. "Shikamaru. You do understand why I am training you like I am right?"

"You said it yourself, did you?" Shikamaru shrugged. "You want us to make us the best damn team ever. That will certainly help your position."

"Shikamaru!" Naruto's shout instantly snapped the Nara out of his lackadaisical stance as Naruto used the tone of voice he used when commanding an Anbu squad. "This is not about you becoming the best team or my reputation!"

Naruto stalked over to stand directly in front of the Nara. "This is about you surviving!"

Shikamaru recoiled from the shout with wide eyes. Naruto couldn't tell if what was in his eyes was fear or understanding, but he was desperately hoping it was the later. For now he would tone down his voice and try to make him understand.

"Shikamaru…I have been in the field for half of my life. We have chosen a life that is full of risks at any moment. People don't always come back from missions…and I can tell you right now that the shinobi from other villages don't have the same attitude respect for life that we do. A jōnin from another village will not hesitate to strike down a genin just because of his rank." Naruto let out a sigh and backed off some as he realized he was laying this on a little thick.

"The academy training is…fine…I guess…but it's not enough to survive out there. It's going to take more effort to keep yourself and your teammates alive. More than anything I want you all to survive. I know this is coming across bad, but I need you to understand this…I don't want you to figure it out before it's too late."

"Sorry." Shikamaru muttered after a moment. "So many things have been in my head that I didn't take that into account. Are you telling the others the same thing?"

"No. Not yet at least." The Naruto clone backed off from Shikamaru a little bit after he realized he was still in close after his outburst from before.

"Why not? You think they already understand it?"

"No. I just think that they will follow your lead." Shikamaru frowned in annoyance. "What wrong?"

"I don't like the idea of them following my lead. You are the sensei."

"Yeah, but just from this morning's test you can see that they both put their trust in you." Naruto shrugged. "I am the sensei and of course you are all going to follow my directions, but trust has to be built over time. They are going to be look at you to see how you react. Chōji has a deep level of trust for you and Hinata wants to fit in and for now is going to be afraid to voice her opinion."

"I get it. It's a drag, but I get it." Shikamaru rolled his shoulders a bit to work out some of the soreness he was feeling from the training. "So, what do we need to work on?"

"Your weaknesses have more to do with the physical side of your chakra. We will continue to work on your physical training to help raise up your abilities. We are also going to continue to work on chakra control more starting tomorrow and teamwork exercises during our missions in the afternoon." The Naruto clone started to lead Shikamaru towards the nearby river running on the side of the training ground. "For now, I am going to teach you a fire jutsu to get it in your repertoire."

"Shouldn't I master some of the techniques I already know before adding in more? I can only perform the shadow possession so far with my level of yin manipulation in my clans' techniques." Shikamaru asked.

"Normally I would agree with you." Naruto answered. "I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times, not the one who has practiced ten thousand different kicks once. However, one thing about your shadow manipulation is that it does have a significant weakness."

"Lack of shadows." Shikamaru spoke with realization dawning upon him.

"That right." Naruto knew that Shikamaru would understand quickly. Most clan children trained heavily in only their family's techniques until they were higher ranked and branched out from there. While family hidden techniques were great, they still had weaknesses. "This way you gain an attack that you can use at any time and way to enhance or provide shadows depending on the situation."

"Understood."

"Here take this." Naruto called out as he tossed over his water canteen from his belt. "You're gonna need it. The technique I am teaching you is a C-rank fire jutsu called the Dragon Fire technique."

OoOoOoOoO

Chōji still had a small smile on his face as he and the team walked in a group from the training grounds. When team ten reconvened in the center of the training field after their individual workouts Chōji had difficulty not laughing at his best friends face that looked like a small explosion had gone off in face and smoke seemed to be drifting off him. Hinata looked more disheveled than she had looked before and was lightly rubbing her wrists and hands. Chōji himself was tired from using his chakra, but overall was just covered in dirt.

"Sensei was teaching me the earth wall technique!" Chōji was currently walking in the center of the three genin with their sensei trailing just directly behind him. Shikamaru and Hinata had shared what they were learning first and now it was Chōji's turn. "It's a really good defensive technique to block attacks from reaching us! So far, I can only get it about a foot in height and two feet long, but I'll get it!"

"That's right Chōji." Naruto spoke. "You have a long way to go with it, but when you master it, you will be able to control the size better and even control the location where the wall raises from."

"Why is that so important if I am trying to block an attack?"

"Tactics!" Naruto announced happily. "I waited until we were all together discuss yours a little more. Can any of you think of additional benefits that Chōji learning earth wall will add to the team."

"Hmm." Shikamaru hummed. "In an open field it could provide an additional source of shadows for me. Also-"

"Hold on Shikamaru." His sensei interrupted. "What do you think Hinata? Any ideas?"

Chōji and Shikamaru looked over at the Hyūga girl that was now ducking her head shyly from the attention being put on her. She started nervously tapping her fingers together as she fidgeted. Something Chōji had seen her do multiple times in class before when she was nervous.

"Umm…H-he could b-block an escape p-path?" She spoke.

"Good! Both of you!" Chōji imagined that his sensei was smiling brightly under his mask from the tone of voice he used. He could see a small blush on Hinata's cheeks from the praise, btu Shikamaru seemed to just roll his eyes with a wry smile. "A wall has multiple strategic elements that it can bring besides defending from an attack. You can use it to hide your movements, force your opponents into unfavorable positions, and with proper teamwork it can enhance your clan abilities."

"I get the shadows, but what about Hinata and me?" Chōji asked.

"Hinata can see through the wall to give guidance and you can stop an opponent from escaping her by erecting a wall behind them. It can serve as a stopping point for your family's bullet tank technique and maybe we can even get you to the point where you can bounce off the wall to change directions quickly."

"Wow." Chōji muttered while thinking of the possibilities. "I wonder if my pa ever thought of that."

"I'm sure he has." Naruto replied. "Your dad is an excellent jōnin. One of the things that separated the great from the average is their understanding how to use their techniques. You can't say that you have mastered a technique until you understand all of the applications for it."

Chōji could still feel the soreness in his muscles form this morning's training and the pull from the resistance bands, but he earnestly smiled as he walked with his best friend and new teammates down the path. The hard work felt rewarding, and his team had been encouraging. Hinata and Naruto didn't put him down about his weight or anything.

It wasn't until they reached the village proper that things started to feel different. There was a tenseness in the air as villagers and shinobi alike stared at the team. Chōji didn't know how to react as he saw the looks of concern from some directed towards him and the glares that were directed towards his new sensei. They were muttering to each other, but Chōji couldn't make out anything they were saying, but he could tell it was about them. It was putting him on edge.

"Hey." Naruto's call instantly got their attention and snapped him out of his thoughts. Looking at his teammates he could tell they felt similar. "I'm gonna take care of something real quick. Meet me at the Hokage tower so we can get our mission. Alright?"

And just like that he leapt up to the rooftops in blur leaving them behind. The three genin looked at each other and then looked around them at villagers and shinobi staring at them.

"He's trying to spare us this treatment the whole way." Shikamaru frowned and he spoke quietly to the team. "He doesn't want them to feel negatively towards us."

"He doesn't need to d-"

"Are you kids okay?" A man's voice interrupted Chōji as the three team members turned around to see tall jōnin with short brown hair and his forehead protector wrapped around his right bicep. His arms were crossed in front of him, and his face was sneering in the direction that their sensei took off in.

"Yeah. Were fine." Chōji was surprised at the curt tone that Shikamaru took with the man. The man scowled a little at the Nara that was staring at him with a bored look. Chōji was also aware of the villagers that stared at them and listened to the conversation.

"Tch. Watch your tone genin." The man snarled. "I'm just making sure the demon didn't do anything to you kids."

"Weren't you the sensei for team one?" Shikamaru asked. Chōji took a better look at the jōnin and realized that Shikamaru was right. The man had been at the team assignments yesterday and took one of the team of civilian born kids with him. "Shouldn't you be with them?"

The mans eye twitched a little and Chōji was starting to wonder Shikamaru was acting the way he was. "Yeah. Team one didn't pass their additional exam this morning-"

"Shouldn't you be doing a mission or something then?"

Chōji swallowed hard and reached for a bag of chips from his sack. Some comfort eating would help him deal with the sudden nerves he was dealing with. He could see Hinata starting to fidget as well as she looked around at the attention her team was receiving.

"I was concerned for your safety kid. Who knows what the freak could be doing to you. Everyone is worried for you." The jōnin raised his hands and waved them around as if to indicate he had the villages support. "I wanted to offer you help. If you aren't comfortable with a sensei we can ask the Hokage to-"

"No thanks." Shikamaru stuffed his hands into his pocket and looked over to his to teammates motioning for them to follow him. "We will trust the Hokage's judgement."

Shikamaru walked past the stunned jōnin and the gossiping villagers that were around them. Chōji and Hinata hurried to catch up after they were stunned for a moment. Quickly they sped up to catch Shikamaru and match his pace away from the small crowd.

"What was that about?" Chōji questioned.

"Tch." The aggravated Nara grunted. "We are giving Naruto-sensei a chance. They don't know anything about him and they expect us to feel the same way as them. That guy just wants to use us; he doesn't really care about us."

"I-is it wise t-to antagonize them?" Hinata asked timidly while looking around them.

In all honesty Chōji agreed with Hinata. The crowd from before now behind and without their sensei it was once again like walking through the village normally. Some smiles were given to the clan heir and nods of acknowledgment from strangers as the new team of genin made their way.

'Soon everyone will know.' Chōji thought as they continued down the main thoroughfare. Rumors were already spreading and the gossip of the exact genins to be the demon's students would soon be known by the whole village. 'The ones who saw us today looked worried for us.'

"I may have handled that poorly, but we have to be ready for that." Shikamaru spoke with bitterness in his voice. "Soon we are going to be the fresh gossip around town and everyone is going to be looking at us differently. We just need to keep our heads straight and think about our team. Don't give them anything to use against us or sensei."

"I never expected to deal with this kind of thing after we became genin."

"We better get used to it. I don't know what kind of treatment we are going to be getting starting soon." Shikamaru let out sigh. "For all I know we could be treated the same way that he is starting soon. People may think that we are brain washed or whatever else stupid that they can make up."

Chōji could only hum in agreement as he thought about what Shikamaru said. He hadn't really considered that the villagers may act differently towards them now. The thought of being disliked by anyone left a bad feeling in his gut. The Akimichi's were well loved in Konoha and to suddenly be ostracized by the village would make him the black sheep of the clan.

They turned the corner and could see the Hokage tower just ahead. Standing off alone to the side of the entrance was their sensei once again wrapped in his cloak to hide his physical body. Small groups of ninja and villagers were standing around the tower and along the street observing him and muttering to each other. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared as the three genin made their way up to him.

"Hey. Sorry abo-" Naruto started.

"Stop." Shikamaru raised his hand to interrupt. "We get that you were trying to spare us the looks and uncomfortable conversations, but you can't hide it. By tomorrow everyone in the village is going to know that we are officially your team. We will deal with it together. Nothing is going to change if you hide from it."

"Y-yeah." Their sensei stuttered. "I was hoping to spare you from that. I won't do that again. I give my word."

"Your word huh?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"That right. It's a part of my nindo."

"N-nindo?" Hinata asked. Chōji was wondering the same thing as he wasn't familiar with the term from his time in the academy.

"Yeah, my ninja way." Naruto's voice seemed to raise a little in excitement. "I won't run away, and I never go back on my word, that's my nindo. It's a way to help guide myself. It should mean something to you."

Chōji wasn't sure how to feel about this. A personal ninja way wasn't something that he had thought of before. 'I wonder if pa has one. I should talk to him.'

"For some reason I can't see you running away." Shikamaru chuckled.

"It's more about life in general than just fighting. I have struggled with a lot of things growing up, and this motto has helped me with my struggles." Their sensei was looking down towards their feet. Chōji could hear the somberness in his voice. "Remember how my shadow clone memories work. Every technique I try to learn I am spending hundreds of hours mentally failing repeatedly. Geniuses like Kakashi-senpai see something once and understand it, but I work myself to exhaustion understand some things. Some things, like shadow clones, just click for me and I understand it, but other things are harder. Sometimes people don't realize that it takes a toll on me because I am still learning things in days that should take months, but failing over and over was hard mentally. Failing is a part of learning though and I won't run away from that."

Chōji mouth was slightly agape as he listened to his sensei talk. He was constantly worried about his own shortcomings, but here was sensei talking about his motto to get him through his own failures, which apparently happened often. His upbringing was clearly very different from their own.

"So in a way you are older mentally than you are physically because of your clones." Shikamaru asked, curiosity in his voice.

"I guess?" Naruto shrugged. "I certainly have the experience of someone much older. I try to be really careful and not use them for things outside of training and missions. I don't necessarily want to experience life through the memories of a clone."

"That makes sense." Shikamaru admitted.

"Anyway. Let's go get your teams first mission!" Naruto exclaimed happily. Shikamaru shook his head and Chōji had a small grin on his face. As he looked around the street, they were on he could see the disapproving looks for those that heard the outburst, but he decided to put that in the back of his mind for now as they entered the tower and proceeded to the mission assignment room.

This was Chōji's first time in the mission assignment room and he took everything in with eager eyes. The room was on the level below the Hokages office, but was actually open to the outside around the perimeter of the room. In the center of the room sat three connected tables where the Hokage sat along with different advisors, clerks and ninja.

The table on the right had a chūnin and an advisor accepting different mission requests and assigning them a rank based on the description of the mission. When they had a question about the ranking, they would occasionally ask the Hokage at the next table for his input or other advisors in the area. Once the mission was ranked and agreed upon by both parties the client received a slip stating the details and left.

The table on the left had two clerks that were responsible to receiving payment for the completed missions. Several villagers were turning in completed mission slips and the agreed upon amounts of ryo for those requests. The clerks and the clients were pleasantly exchanging their appreciation before heading for the exit.

At the center table sat the Hokage in the middle with an advisor on one side and a chūnin on the other. Chōji was surprised to see that it was Iruka sitting next to the Hokage handing out missions rather than at the academy teaching. There were a pair of chūnin in front of the table currently accepting a mission and discussing the details with the Hokage.

"Oi! Old man! My team is ready for their first mission!" Everything came to a halt in the room, and everyone turned to stare at Chōji's sensei. For the most part they were looked at with disgust and in the most extreme case loathing from one of the chūnin. Iruka and the three genin had their mouth fall open with disbelief. What surprised everyone most of all was that the Hokage laughed with mirth.

"Ho ho…" He chuckled. "It is good see you and your team Naruto-kun."

"Hokage-sama!" The three genin shouted and bowed to their village leader. Iruka's eye seemed to be twitching a little as their sensei and the Hokage's action, but he was proud of how the genin represented themselves.

"Now now. No need to bow so deeply when you come in the mission room." Chōji smiled as he and his team raised their heads. His past experiences would the Third had always been pleasant. The man acted more like a grandfather to the village rather than one of the most powerful shinobi to ever walk the earth. "I do appreciate the correct title being used though."

"Bah…" Naruto scoffed with amusement in his voice. "You know it comes from the heart."

"Naruto-san." Iruka spoke up. "Could you please show respect to the Hokage? Set a good example for your students?"

"Iruka!?" Chōji saw how Naruto glanced away from the Hokage to address their former teacher. Naruto sounded almost as if he just recognized the man. "I thought we agreed to drop the honorifics between us. What are you doing here? Is this what you do when you have no students?"

Iruka seemed to blush slightly and swallow loudly as all of the attention in the room was suddenly turned on him from the villagers and shinobi in in the room. "Uh…yes. I help out with mission assignments when I am not teaching. Students coming into my class still have a few weeks of break."

"Makes sense!" Naruto chirped back happily.

'Iruka-sensei knows Naruto-sensei?' Chōji wondered as the two interacted. 'I wonder if Iruka-sensei can tell us anything.'

"Anyway." Iruka coughed. "You should consider coming to pick missions out earlier in the day. In the afternoon the pick of good D rank missions tends to go down."

"Oh, that's okay. I know just the mission that I am sure is available!" Chōji could feel himself shiver from the tone of voice. It had the same giddy and slightly sadistic tone that he had earlier when he announced how much he loved training. It didn't help when the Hokage started to chuckle.

OoOoOoOoO

For once Naruto was truly thankful for the mask that covered his face. He really didn't want his team to see the smile that stretched across his face as they walked down the street. Especially with negative emotions begin directed at him from two of them.

Chōji and Shikamaru were covered in scratch marks across their hands, arms and faces. They had some bandages on their cheeks that reminded Naruto of his alter persona that caused Naruto to snigger a little. Hinata on the other hand had no scratches on her at all and the cause of the boy's damage comfortably resting in her arms as she ran her hand softly along its fur coat as she hummed along the street with a soft smile on her face.

The cat known as Tora was something of a legend among the shinobi in the leaf village. The pet of the Fire Daimyo's wife escaped from her Konoha residence every morning and was supposed to be captured every afternoon. If no genin teams accepted or completed the mission before close end of normal business, then the Hokage would send one of his Anbu to retrieve the cat as a personal favor the nations ruler. Naruto was very familiar with this cat.

"Damn furball." Shikamaru muttered as he rubbed the scratch marks on his arms. "Why would you want us to take this mission?!"

"Oh that's easy." Naruto chuckled. "This is the best D rank mission that you can take if you want to actually gain anything from it."

"What do you mean sensei?" Chōji asked.

"Are you all familiar with the mission ranking system and what those missions are like?"

"Iruka-sensei told us that missions are ranked as D through A depending on difficulty, but he didn't go into much more detail than that." Chōji answered.

"That's correct. Missions are ranked D through A based on their difficulty and that determines what ninja can take the mission. Genin handle D rank and low C rank missions, chūnin handle the upper C and lower B rank missions, and jōnin handle the upper B and A rank mission." Naruto confirmed. "What Iruka did not tell you is what kinds of missions fill up the D rank requests. To be quite honest they are basically chores."

"C-chores?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah. The D rank missions are filled with tasks like babysitting, painting a fence, doing yardwork and dozens of other similar tasks." Naruto replied. "It's a good service to help promote unity between the shinobi and a civilian community with cheap labor, but it doesn't really provide a lot towards advancing your abilities. Genin are required to do D ranks for a while because its gives ample training time to your sensei and a source of income that is not too difficult."

"So, you think chasing a cat is better?" Chōji asked and Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

"Ha! Yeah, I think it's a lot better than painting a fence. Just think about some of the things we talked about during the mission. I spoke to you about some of the basics of tracking, we discussed strategy for capturing Tora, enacting your plan took teamwork and physical exertions, and finally some basic first aid!" Naruto held back his chuckles at the grumbling of his students. "So yes. Catching Tora is a much better mission compared to painting a fence."

Shikamaru and Chōji looked a little put off but seemed to understand the logic behind Naruto's words. Hinata was thoughtful but judging by the content look on the cat's face, and her hands continuous petting, she didn't mind the mission at all. In fact, this was the most relaxed he had seen her the entire day. He was already planning on making them do this mission repeatedly but helping Hinata relax a little more was an extra bonus.

"You aren't the one getting clawed." Shikamaru complained.

"Neither is Hinata." Naruto laughed as the girl let out a small eep. "In all honesty though I've done this mission solo dozens of times. Tora and I have a close relationship. Isn't that right Tora."

The cat in question let out a small growl of warning before relaxing back into Hinata's arms. Naruto chuckled and couldn't believe how good of a time he was having right now. He wasn't sure how today was going to go based off yesterday's introductions, but they were giving him a legitimate chance. He was sure that if people could feel positive emotions he would be radiating like the sun.

"What about the other mission ranks? How difficult are they?"

"Well it depends really." Naruto shrugged. "The categories are much broader in the upper ranks and really depend on the level of risk or the skill needed. A and B rank missions can be anything from destroying a target, acting as a bodyguard or even just information gathering. It all depends on what the difficulty is and how much the client is willing to pay to determine the rank."

"What about C rank? We will be doing those before we get promoted right?"

"Yeah…C ranks." Naruto mumbled. "C ranks are weird. C rank missions are supposed to be missions are located outside the village and combat is either not expected or something very minor. Things like escorting a merchant to a village with the possibility of running into simple bandits for example."

"Why are you talking about them like that then?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Well. C ranks are also nicknamed cursed missions? C rank missions either go almost exactly as simple as a D rank mission or they tend to go to hell and need to be raised in ranking. It's rare that they ago exactly like described."

"W-why is that?" This time the stutter came from Chōji. Naruto could feel a little of what he figured was nervousness come out of the boy from being on a C rank mission.

"No one really knows. There are just too many things that can happen outside of the walls that raise the risk of mission, but we can't just make everything a B or A rank mission. Many people that come and make mission request assume that C rank is all they need and can only really afford that. We would lose too much business if we raised most missions to a higher rank."

"So we risk genin on those missions?"

"That's why I am here. A jōnin can handle dearly anything that comes up and has the experience to know when the mission is over the team head." Naruto's confident words seemed to work as the nervous aura's from his team seemed to calm down some. "Plus those missions give you the best real experience as shinobi. You need them to grow."

The team nodded their understanding as they continued their way to the tower. Naruto could feel the emotions running through his students and the crowds they passed as they walked through the village. Normally he preferred to use the rooftops so he could avoid the glares and disparaging whispers, but he wasn't going to leave his team again after his discussion earlier with them.

It didn't take long for them to reach the Hokage tower without any incidents. Once inside the mission hall they got inside he told Hinata to walk over to one of the mission completion clerks and inform them that the mission was accomplished. She hesitated for only a moment before nodding and going to the clerk.

Naruto looked around to see that the clerks for accepting missions and completing missions were still present, but it looked like the old man and Iruka had moved onto other work for the day. Honestly Naruto was a little surprised to see the Hokage there in the afternoon instead of working on his normal paperwork, but he chalked it up to man wanting to greet all of the new genin teams.

"A-ano…he said t-that the client would be here m-momentarily." Hinata spoke as she returned. Naruto was a little surprised that they weren't just leaving the cat with the clerk to be picked up by the client later, but if the client was present then he supposed it wasn't a big deal. He had never actually met Lady Shijimi in person as he always delivered Tora to one of her gate guards at her compound before leaving right away.

The door opened up behind them and in walked a slightly chubby woman wearing regal looking robes that showed her status. Her hair was black and ornately done with gold hairpins. She walked with the grace of a leader that made Naruto immediately realize who he was looking at.

"Tora baby!"

It lasted for all of three seconds before she spotted the cate in Hinata's arms and immediately ran over to retrieve the feline. Naruto felt his eye twitch as he looked at the woman now rubbing her cheek against the feline struggling to get out of her grasp; Said cat was shooting pleading eyes towards Hinata, but the poor girl was still in a state of shock at having the cat pulled from her arms by the royal woman.

"Thank you so much!" She smiled at his genin, but Naruto could see a certain gleam in her eyes. "To have the heirs of such noble clans rescue my baby is truly a blessing."

'She knows who they are from just a quick glance.' Naruto kept his composure as he observed her. He had studied how to read people and the politics involved in the courts, but this was his first time meeting someone of such high status. The look she had given the genin was miniscule and he would have never noticed it, if not for his training. 'She is not a simple person to deal with.'

"I will have to make sure they help you more often, Lady Shijimi." Naruto spoke.

Naruto had been standing slightly to the side of his team when she had come up to his students. She had noticed him standing there from her glance, but she must have assumed that he was there for another purpose from the way she turned to look at him now. She showed some surprise on her face when she looked at his mask, but Naruto didn't sense any kind of negative emotion coming from her.

"Oh my." She cooed out as she observed him from head to toe. "The famous kitsune Anbu. Are you involved with these genin Kitsune-san?"

"Yes my Lady." Naruto offered a small bow. "I am Naruto; the jōnin instructor of team ten. This is Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chōji, and Hyūga Hinata."

"Just Naruto-kun? No family name?" She asked and Naruto could see that she still wore the same perfect smile, but her eyes were calculating as she watched him.

"No my Lady. Just Naruto."

"And you continue to wear your mask Naruto-kun? Even when teaching?"

"It is one of the conditions of my teaching, but we are not letting it affect us."

"I see." Her smile grew wider as she observed the team and Naruto was starting to wonder if he made a verbal mistake or let something slip accidently. "Thank you so much for helping my dear Tora. I simply can't wait to tell my husband and son all about this. I look forward to our future dealings Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he watched her walk away to pay the mission fee. Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that this encounter would set things in motion. At least he couldn't feel any negative emotions from her.

OoooooooooooooO

So this probably would have come out sooner, but honestly this chapter had a couple of additional scenes that I decided to cut preferring this to be the end point for the chapter. Those scenes are basically going to start off the next chapter, which means I already have a nice portion done.

Really appreciate the reviews and messages I have received. Thank you all so much.