I do not own Naruto
Later, at Ichiraku
"Hey sensei! You never introduced yourself!" Naruto pointed his chopsticks at the man after finishing his tenth bowl of ramen,
Risu chuckled "I suppose so." He cleared his voice, putting his chopsticks down "My name is Hyuuga Risu, 36. Mother was a Hyuuga, father was not. Due to a very particular set of circumstances, I was raised outside of the clan compound and not trained in the clan techniques. While I am still bound to the clan, I enjoy far more freedom than most clan members but I also have far less assistance from them. No retirement fund, for once. I'm an ex spy and infiltration specialist, I spent 11 years across the elemental nations infiltrating nearly every single ninja village to gather as much intel as possible for Konoha."
Naruto was looking at his sensei with sparkling eyes "That's so cool sensei!"
He smiled "Thanks. jutsu-wise I specialize in fuinjutsu, but I am rather well versed in most ninja skills and over the years I managed to acquire some rather interesting jutsus from other villages, which include but are not limited to six S-rank jutsus. I cannot use them, of course, but I know the theory behind them"
"Are you going to teach us any of those?" asked Sasuke, intrigued
"If you prove you can handle them responsibly I don't see why I shouldn't"
"Awesome! Have you heard, old man? Risu-sensei is going to teach us S-rank jutsus!"
Teuchi smiled, offering Naruto another bowl of ramen "That's not what he said, Naruto"
"Outside of my professional career… I don't think there's much to be honest. I spent years posing as an archeologist and a scholar, so I suppose I developed a certain fascination with the subject. Apart from disliking the obvious traitors, murderers and criminals in general, there isn't much to hate and when it comes to liking things… cooking and centipedes."
"Centipedes!?" Sputtered Sakura, half choking on her ramen. "Why?!"
"I have a summoning contract with the centipede clan. They are surprisingly versatile."
"You have a summoning contract? Can you summon giant creatures like the Yondaime!?" asked Naruto in excitement, while Sakura shuddered imagining centipedes the size of the Hokage monument
"Not quite. The largest centipede I can summon is only eight meters long, but the ones I tend to use are about the size of a noodle. The ones I placed on you while you were looking for my house were roughly half that size" Sakura's sputtered again, panic evident in her eyes.
"WE HAD CENTIPEDES CRAWLING ON US FOR THE WHOLE DAY!?"
"You still have it on you" Risu moved her hair from her shoulder, retrieving a pink centipede perfectly camouflaged and nearly indistinguishable from her hair. Sakura fainted, only to be caught by Risu before she could hit the ground. He bit his thumb and quickly went through a serie of hand signs before slamming his hand on the ground.
Kuchiyose no Jutsu
With a puff of smoke, a pitch black centipede with glowing red fangs three meters long appeared next to Risu. He scribbled a note on a piece of paper and handed it over to the summon.
"Please take her home and give her parents that message. If they ask anything, point them towards the note or do something to make them understand they come with Sakura at training ground 7 at 8 am, ok?" As the black centipede nodded, Risu placed Sakura on its back and let the pink centipede crawl on the black one's head. As soon as he was done, the centipede darted across the street with extreme speed.
"Was that too much?" he asked the boy, feigning innocence, observing Sasuke's inquisitive look and Naruto's sparkling eyes.
Sasuke smirked "Can you teach me how to summon?"
The Hyuuga shook his head. "I'm not letting you sign the centipede contract, Sasuke. They are very strict about their summoner and I'm afraid you don't qualify."
"No need. The Uchiha clan has the raven contract, I just don't know how to use it and the library has no information on summoning contracts."
Risu nodded. "Sure thing. But I'd suggest waiting a few months to build up your chakra reserves, summoning is a bit too taxing for a fresh academy graduate."
"Hey sensei! Can I sign the centipede contract?" asked Naruto
"Unfortunately no, Naruto. The centipedes would not accept you either. But I do have a good hunch on what contract would work well for you."
"Is it an Uzumaki contract? Did they have some super cool summon? Were they lions? Dragons?"
"Sharks actually. Unfortunately that contract was taken as war spoil by Kiri, and last I checked it was lost when one of the seven swordsmen turned traitor"
"Ah! Take that, teme! Sharks are cooler than ravens!"
"Tsk. You don't even know where the contract is. Besides, sharks are useless on land."
"Hence why all shark summoners need to be extremely proficient Suiton users. The Nidaime would have been a great shark summoner, for example"
"So sensei, what will my summon be? Is it cool!?" beamed the blonde
"Calm down, Naruto. I'm not 100% sure and I'd rather not say anything until I have confirmation." The blonde deflated a bit, but he couldn't help but smile.
With a chuckle, Risu asked for the check before sending the two boys to bed, giving the same instructions he wrote in Sakura's note. His eyes bulged out when he saw the astronomical bill Naruto's ramen had accumulated.
The next day, training ground 7
"Good morning, little hatchlings." Waved Risu while standing in front of a lined up collection of scrolls
"Hatchlings?" Asked Sakura
"Of course. You are a batch of three centipedes that just crawled out of the egg that is the academy."
"Please sensei, no centipede talk." Sakura paled.
"Sorry about it Sakura, but you'll have to learn to deal with it. Not only are they my summon, but ninjas often need to face their fear or deal with horrifying situations during missions and you'll have to learn how to perform your duty regardless." He said, while flashing through hand signs
Kuchiyose no Jutsu
A swarm of tiny centipedes emerged from the ground, crawling on top of Risu, who continued talking as if nothing happened
"This will be part of your training as well. A distraction can cost your life in the field and I'll make sure you can tune it out, ignore the distraction and soldier on. By the end of the month I'll have a swarm of my smallest centipedes crawl over you and you'll have to show no reaction whatsoever. So, in order to prepare you for that particular test, I'll have a few of them wander around every time we're discussing theory or strategy. Now, sit down and don't squash anyone."
The three genin paled, but followed the instructions. Sasuke's poker face was good, but not perfect, and his paler than usual face showed his true feelings. Naruto was trying to close both ears and nose, in the obvious fear that the critters would simply crawl in. Sakura, on the other hand, was about to pass out again.
"Every morning we're going to meet at 8 am in front of the Hokage tower and pick one or two D-rank missions. As I'm sure you're already aware, D-rank missions are essentially chores: painting fences, babysitting, rescuing pets and so on. Yes?" Risu looked at Sakura's raised hand and Naruto's disappointed expression
"Why are we doing these missions, sensei?" asked the pinkette
"D-ranks missions are used both as a way for genins to make money while training and as a way to apply their training in a practical way. Each D-rank mission will help you train one or more ninja skills, but finding out how each D-rank can help you in your ninja career is also part of the process. Don't worry, because after picking our daily mission we'll come straight here to start some physical conditioning, teamwork drills and I'll go over the fundamentals every ninja ought to know. You'll use that time to try and figure out how our chosen D-rank will help you train. After lunch we'll do our mission, report to the Hokage, then each one of you will follow one of my shadow clones for individual training over the material we discussed in the morning or remedial training to fill up any hole in your fundamentals. Now, during the D-rank mission I will be there to supervise you and make sure you don't accidentally kill anyone, but will not help you in any other way, so you'll have to rely on each other. During those missions, Naruto will be the team leader."
Naruto was surprised at the news. He was the team leader?
"Why him?" asked Sasuke, narrowing his eyes
"Because he's the only one that showed interest in a leadership position. He wants to be Hokage and a Hokage is a leader first, a ninja second. Sasuke, you want to kill a certain man: you don't need leadership skills to do that, you need combat skill. Which you will get while Naruto learns how to be a good leader. Sakura… you didn't show any particular interest, we'll figure something out."
Sasuke nodded. If having to listen to the dobe barking orders a couple hours a day was the price to pay for special training he could live with it. He wasn't happy about it, but sensei made a good point
"Yes! I'm the best! 'ttebayo"
"Lesson one in leadership: humility. No one likes a team leader that screams he's the best, it drags morale down. Either praise your teammate or praise the team as a unit, but never yourself. Got it?"
Naruto nodded "Yes sensei! Team 7 is the best!"
"Good. Now, I want you to take these."
Risu pulled out three sheets of paper and had three centipedes carry them to his students. With hesitancy, the three picked them up.
"These are chakra papers. If you push your chakra in them they will reveal your natural elemental affinity. This is important information to have early on, even if you won't be performing any nature manipulation for a while. If your paper is cut, you have wind nature, if it burns you have fire, if it gets wet you have water, if it crumbles you have earth and if it crinkles you have lightning. Now try."
Naruto's paper split in half, Sasuke's crinkled and Sakura's started to crumble.
"No fire types? That's unusual."
Sasuke stared at the paper in disbelief. He was an Uchiha! His clan symbol represented the fanning of the flames, he should have had a fire affinity! Uchiha weren't considered mature until they knew a fire jutsu! He had learned fire manipulation years ago!
"Sasuke, what's going on?" asked a concerned Sakura, snapping him out of his daze
Risu looked at him "Were you expecting to be a fire type?"
Sasuke took a deep breath, regaining his composure. He looked at the Hyuuga and nodded. Risu smiled. "No need to worry. While it might not be your natural affinity, you most certainly have cultivated a strong fire affinity, most likely surpassing your natural one. Affinity doesn't define you, it only indicates what kind of jutsus will be easier to learn. You'll master any fire jutsu I'll teach you in no time."
Sasuke calmed down, looking away with a slight blush of embarrassment "Tsk. That was never in question."
Risu smirked and picked up one of the scrolls he had taken to the training ground.
"This is a sealing scroll I borrowed from Hokage-sama that contains one of every type of weapon. Now that we know your nature type, you should pick a weapon best suited for you. I'm going to teach you some basic kenjutsu, but if you want to become a master of your weapon I suggest you start looking for a teacher. Now, Naruto: you're a wind user, which means you'll work best with a light weapon that cuts and you should avoid hammers, maces and other blunt weapons like the plague. Sasuke, your lightning affinity is great for piercing attacks, while your fire affinity works best for large sweeping attacks, making you rather versatile. Most people who cultivate multiple affinities end up picking a sword, so I suggest you start looking there and see what feels right. Sakura, as an earth type you might want to avoid cutting weapons. Usually I'd suggest a Tetsubo, but I don't think you have the muscles to use one properly, so I think something like a spear will be a better choice. Start unsealing the weapons, swing them around a bit and get a feel. Once you have picked them, seal everything back in the storage scroll, tomorrow I'll bring you a weapon you can use during training."
"Risu-sense! How do we use a sealing scroll?" asked Naruto
Risu sighed. He knew none of them had marked down fuinjutsu as one of their skills, but apparently he had overestimated the academy once again. If they couldn't even use sealing scrolls, he'd have to make room for some fuinjutsu theory before he could teach them how to make simple seals. "Just push some chakra on the kanji for the weapon. I'll seal them back once you're done."
The trio started to unseal the weapons. As Risu suggested, Sasuke immediately found himself at ease when swinging swords, eventually landing on a straight blade ninjato a little short of one meter. Sakura had skimmed through the various pole weapons, dropping most of them for being either too heavy or due to their focus on cutting, until she eventually landed on a light yari with a short straight blade as a tip. Naruto was a mess. He had unsealed every single weapon in the scroll, including a massive hammer he had no business even considering wielding, and insisted on trying to swing all of them. Risu didn't protest. After all, even if the boy would never end up using a weapon, he could always find himself against an enemy using it, and knowing how a weapon was supposed to work, even if only on a theoretical level, would certainly prove helpful. In the end, Naruto chose a pair of knives with a hand guard, using the weapons almost like brass knuckles. The Hyuuga made a mental note to introduce Naruto to Asuma.
"Excellent. Now, that would be the point where I'd tell you to seal your weapon on a sealing scroll, but it seems like you were never taught how to make one. Is that correct?"
The trio nodded.
Risu sighed, dismissing his summon and unsealing its content. "Change of plans. Today you'll have a crash course on fuinjutsu, I'll leave you with some exercises and tomorrow we meet at 8 am at my house to check your progress and maybe start working on your first seal. Grab an empty scroll, some ink and a brush."
Naruto frowned. "Is that really necessary, sensei?"
"Yes it is. Sealing scrolls are the single most useful tool at your hand and you have to learn how to make, maintain, repair and properly use it. Plus..." He smirked "...fuinjutsu was basically invented by the Uzumaki. I thought you of all people would want to study it"
Naruto beamed with excitement at the mention of his clan "Teach me everything sensei! I'll become the best at this fuin… thing in the whole world! 'ttebayo!"
Later, Hokage's office
Team 8 and team 10 were the only other teams to have passed their test. Risu wanted to say he was disappointed, but with so many sensei forced to take on the role against their wishes, such a result was kind of expected. He took a step forward.
"Team 7, pass"
"Didn't your team get into a fight in the middle of the street? How did they pass?" asked a curious Kurenai
"Yup. Test was to find my house. They figured out that if they were to be arrested by ANBU they would be taken to me."
Asume laughed "That's one way to do it"
"Can't say I wasn't surprised when I learned about it" confirmed the Hokage with a smile
"Speaking of surprises… My team had never heard the story of the fall of Uzu. Apparently Mizuki didn't feel the Uzumaki clan was important enough to be part of the curriculum."
The Hokage frowned "That's not good. Would you mind doing a lecture to fix the issue with the other teams as well?"
Risu shrugged. "I'm not opposed to it, but someone will have to take care of my team while I do it."
"I can give them a lesson in genjutsu" offered Kurenai "I still need to thank you for the scroll you brought back from your last mission"
"I can teach them… I dunno, some kenjutsu and Chakra Nagashi?" added in Asuma, unsure. Kurenai teaching genjutsu was obvious, Risu was an infiltration and fuinjutsu specialist, while he was a generalist and didn't really have anything unique, except maybe his rare wind affinity. To his relief, Risu accepted.
"That would be wonderful. I was already planning to ask you for some kenjutsu lessons, Asuma-san: young Naruto has a wind affinity and picked up knives as his weapon of choice."
Asuma smiled. "Sure thing. Kami knowns there aren't enough wind users in the village"
"Then if it's ok with you, I'll teach Kurenai-san's team tomorrow afternoon and Asuma-san's the day after. We can meet for lunch at Akimichi's BBQ?"
The two jonin sensei nodded in agreement.
"Then it's settled"
Notes
While never explicitly stated, in canon the raven/crow contract is only used by Uchiha clan members, so I decided to turn it into a clan contract. More details will come when Sasuke signs it (which he will do)
Risu's backstory will be explored a little bit more in future chapters as it becomes relevant, but before you ask: yes, he does have the Cage Bird Seal. No, he doesn't know the Gentle Fist