Chapter 7: Dinner with the Hokage, Part I - Enter the Honorable Grandson

"Eating together, breaking bread together, is one of the oldest and most fundamentally unifying of human experiences."

Barbara Coloroso

The path to the Sarutobi compound truly began just outside the village walls. Several clan compounds, the Nara being another example, were situated right outside the village walls, sometimes due to size requirements like the Sarutobi and sometimes due to other needs, such as the Nara needing land to tend to their herds of deer.

While some may have worried about being vulnerable outside of the village walls, the clans that took that route in the early days of the village often went to great lengths to secure their homes. The Aburame, as an example of another clan outside the village walls, often had small clouds of kikachu beetles flying around the perimeter to alert them to intruders, slow the intruders, and allow either apprehension or evacuation depending on the circumstances. The Nara were hidden in the deepest parts of the surrounding forest, fittingly amongst the shadows, their lands strategically trapped to all hell and nothing able to get out of the reach of their shadows, offering them an absolutely overpowering terrain advantage.

The Sarutobi had their own strategy, one that fit their simian motif as well as anything could. The path was winding through the trees, not clearly defined in the slightest, another ploy to keep any enemies that may see the compound as a target from easily locating it. The ground followed the small monkey Enki, the young ape gracefully jumping from tree to tree, using his strong grip to secure his position on the protruding bark at each plant.

Kakashi followed with the rest of the group, taking note of each person that was present. There were those he of course knew would attend - Gai walked nearby with his team, lecturing Neji on the importance of conducting yourself in a "youthful" manner towards your allies. Walking next to Tenten followed a man Kakashi did not recognize but supposed was her father. He was a burly individual, a bit on the short side but with massive arms and a barrel chest, his arms covered in burns both old and new. A blacksmith if the cyclops had ever seen one.

Near them walked Team Eight and their respective parents, with Shibi Aburame and Tsume Inuzuka conversing back and forth, Tsume being the more animated of the two, while a pink-haired woman Kakashi could only presume was Sakura Haruno's mother chiming in here and there, looking out of her depth but clearly trying to take the opportunity to learn more about the new world that was now her daughter's. Next to Kurenai walked Asuma, the two jonin acting as the buffer between their teams. Each member of Team Ten walked with their parent or parents, in the case of Shikamaru Nara. Inoichi and Chouza were cutting it up, the two clearly being old friends with a great deal of history between them, while the hen-pecked Nara men both tried to look as small as possible while Yoshino Nara lectured them about laziness being tolerated for too long among the clan.

Given that his team was otherwise composed of orphans, the only parent that walked with their group was Hiashi Hyuuga. Given the recent familiarity between the two men, Kakashi could see the barest hint of amusement in his eyes as Naruto reacted to the events of the day regarding Neji.

"No offense Hinata's dad, but Neji seems like a real jerk, ya know?" The boy stated bluntly, making his sensei wish to beat his own head against a tree.

Thankfully, the newer disposition of the clan head took the casual insult in stride. "He has his reasons for acting in the manner he does, ones that are not mine to share, but I agree that he crossed lines tonight. I had planned to speak with him more tonight, but his sensei seems to be doing an excellent job of making him regret his actions." The Hyuga patriarch replied good-naturedly. "My name is Hiashi, by the way."

The boy furrowed his brow as he thought of the man's name before he smiled wide and said, "I'm not so good at remembering names, so I'm gonna keep calling you Hinata's dad if that's okay."

'Kami above this kid is going to cause an international incident if we're given a diplomatic mission anytime soon.' Kakashi thought miserably, keeping his reaction internal but hoping there would be alcohol at this dinner.

Thankfully the man chuckled lightly at the young boy's utter lack of decorum. "How about we meet in the middle and you just refer to me as Mr. Hyuga?" He asked.

"I think I can remember that!" The blonde replied, giving one of his signature toothy grins.

"Good to hear." The clan head replied, his normally emotionless eyes now dancing with amusement. "If I may ask, how do you feel your new team is faring so far? I hear you did quite well in Kakashi's bell test."

"Oh yeah, it was awesome!" The young boy confirmed boisterously. "We got sensei real good! He totally underestimated us. Hinata and Sasuke did great hiding in my shadow clones, and he wasn't ready for our tricks at all, ya know? I thought of transforming into a fuma shuriken and Sasuke threw me! Let me grab the bells, no sweat!"

"Very inventive." The man agreed, nodding along with the youth's boasting. "What was your secondary plan if that hadn't worked?"

At that the boy faltered momentarily before shrugging. "Didn't really have one." He began to sheepishly rub the back of his neck. "Honestly we woulda been in trouble if that hadn't worked."

The patriarch hummed in agreement. "Without a secondary plan of attack against someone like Kakashi, yes, you would have been. Remember that while having a clever plan of attack is the first step, plans rarely survive first contact with the enemy. Always plan contingencies, and then plan contingencies for your contingencies. Only then will you be prepared for everything you will encounter in the ninja world."

The boy looked at him confused. "What's a contingency?" He asked.

"A back-up plan." Sasuke cut in for Hiashi, rolling his eyes.

"Oh!" The blonde exclaimed, pounding his fist into his palm. "So you're saying I should always have another plan for if my first plan doesn't work?"

"In simpler terms, yes." Hiashi confirmed, nodding. "True strategic thinking is not just focusing on your next move, but accounting for how the enemy will respond. The greatest strategists have entire battles planned out dozens of times over in their head so they are never left in the lurch, unable to respond to their opponent's counterattacks."

The boy nodded slowly. "So, like planting a paint bomb in a desk drawer but then also planting one behind the chalkboard so that way Iruka gets splattered even if he checks his drawers?"

"Er, yes, I suppose that is a functional analogy." Hiashi agreed hesitantly, the smallest of sweat drops forming on the back of his head. Kakashi once more palmed his face, wishing that the boy took a bit more after his father than his mother. Hinata, who had been trying to maintain an air of impassivity as her father spoke, couldn't help but giggle at her crush's antics.

As they were speaking, the path in front of them opened up and gave way to a large clearing. Many present had never seen the Sarutobi compound properly, so there were multiple sounds of surprise and astonishment as the building became visible. The clearing was filled with small fields of varying flowers and smaller fruit trees. In the center stood a massive tree, at least one-hundred feet in height and well over two-hundred feet in width from furthest branch to furthest branch, its trunk wide and strong. Among the branches was a series of treehouse-like wooden buildings, many supported by additional beams reaching to the ground as they expanded out to the ends of the branches. At the base of the tree was the largest building, and clearly the main living area and likely where the Hokage's own domicile was as leader of the clan. Staircases and ladders connected the buildings, though it was apparent that many jumped from building to building and branch to branch to reach different parts of the facility.

In front of the structure stood Hiruzen Sarutobi, his hat missing but his flowing robes still present. He was puffing on his ever-present pipe, giving the approaching group a jovial wave. "Thank you all so much for coming," he greeted pleasantly, "especially on such short notice. I look forward to a productive evening."

Enki ran forward and climbed up the old man's shoulder, his back going straight on his perch as he gave a salute. "Enki reporting in. Mission to lead guests to the compound is a success for Lord Hiruzen."

The man chuckled and reached into his robes, pulling out a ripe red apple and handing it to the small ape, who dropped all pretenses of decorum immediately in seizing the fruit with an overjoyed expression. "Well done Enki. Take a little treat back for your good work."

"Thank you sir!" The little monkey replied gleefully before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Feeling an obligation due to having brought many of the people here together, Kakashi stepped forward to return the greeting. "Thank you for having us, sir."

Hiruzen waved off the thanks. "No need to thank me, a Hokage should always be ready to dine with his people, especially to discuss such an important topic as the education of our youth." With that the man turned, opening the wooden door at the front of the large building sitting at the base. "Please everyone, come in and make yourselves comfortable."

The group slowly began filing in, Kakashi at the front. The interior of the building had an obvious natural touch to it, the walls wooden and painted with motifs of leaves of winding branches. At the center of the large open room was a massive table, almost the length of the room itself and easily able to seat fifty plus people. It was already filled with food of all varieties, from rice to soups to fresh fruit, a massive roasted boar taking up the most space at the center and surrounded by various cooked fowl and beef dishes.

"Oh hell yeah!" Chouza Akimichi exclaimed upon seeing the feast, his son Choji having the same small gleam in his eyes as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

The Hokage chuckled as he walked next to Kakashi. "For a gathering of so many of our most esteemed, it felt only right that we offer an impressive spread. Our chefs worked quite hard to have this prepared, so please enjoy! Everyone has a card in front of where they should sit."

Several Sarutobi clansmen and women were already seated together at one end of the table, every single face friendly and inviting - but the ever-perceptive copy ninja noticed a few dirty looks thrown Asuma's way. The group milled around the large table for a few moments as everyone found their seats.

The Hatake quickly noticed a pattern - it seemed he was seated to the right of the head of the table where the Third would sit, Gai next to him, while Asuma and Kurenai sat across from them. Meanwhile, the parents were seated down the table from there, with heads more familiar with each other side by side, and the new genin plus Gai's team taking up the space between the Sarutobi clan and their parents.

Settling in, Kakashi was immediately engaged by his green rival. "Kakashi! What a wonderful occasion you have invited us to. You didn't mention the size of the event!"

"That was something of a last-minute adjustment after I expanded the guestlist." The jonin replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

"I see. By the way," his expression became a bit more serious, "I heard from Neji you extended quite the challenge to him."

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah, his attitude was getting on my nerves a bit. Figured the best way to get him to stop trying to verbally crush my team was by showing him firsthand that he has misjudged them." He raised an eyebrow at the man. "Is that going to be a problem?"

Gai laughed in his usual loud manner. "Not at all actually! I have to apologize for his behavior to this point." The man leaned over in a conspiratorial way, waggling his eyebrows. "In truth, I am rooting for your team. Neji could use something of an ego check if he will ever see his youth burn as brightly as I know it can." Ever wearing his heart on his sleeve, his expression then grew concerned. "I do have to ask, have you thought this through? He is quite talented, and while I do not wish to doubt your team's flames of youth, they are inexperienced."

"Oh, I'll have them ready." Kakashi cryptically replied. If they could steal the bells without any training, then surely after a week they could win a three versus one battle against any genin, no matter how talented.

Just as the Third was about to take his seat, his chair burst forward and from beneath the table launched a small boy, maybe eight years of age, holding a practice kunai. He was average height for his age, wearing a yellow shirt and blue scarf, a helmet on his head allowing only a tuft of his brown hair out the top.

"I finally got you old man!" The boy exclaimed, pointing the kunai at the elderly Kage. With a practice ease that confirmed this to be a frequent occurrence, Hiruzen sidestepped the airborne child and grabbed the back of his shirt, holding him aloft and away from himself.

"Good evening to you as well, Konohamaru." He sighed, shaking his head. "That was certainly an effort. Now please go have a seat and avoid any further attempts on my life this evening."

The boy went red in the face as he flailed his small limbs before sighing and going limp. "Yes grandpa." He agreed in a churlish tone, being set down and making his way to his seat. He was incidentally next to Naruto, who was at the end of the graduating students. A brown-haired woman on the other side of his seat bopped the young boy on the head before returning to converse with a man with spiky brown hair who bore an uncanny resemblance to Asuma.

'Well, they should get along swimmingly.' Kakashi thought to himself as he turned his attention to his leader taking his seat.

"Now that we have all been seated and all surprises are out of the way," Hiruzen began, throwing a pointed look at his grandson, "I wish to say a few words before we eat. We are here for business as well, but that can be addressed over the course of the meal."

He cleared his throat before continuing. "We here in the Hidden Leaf are unique amongst our peers. In other villages, the Kage are still regarded as pillars of strength, but they are often distant to almost all their citizens, wrapped up in their duties and the shadow games between our countries. I am guilty of this kind of behavior over my long rule. But I will not be Hokage forever, and it is time I took a personal and direct interest in the future of our village so the Will of Fire may burn brighter after I am gone."

At the end of his last sentence, the man coughed lightly into a handkerchief he swiftly pulled from his robes, before placing it back just as swiftly. "So eat and be merry at my table as we decide how to ensure this next generation surpasses us." He returned to his seat. After there was no motion for a moment, a small tic mark developed on his head. "I said eat dammit! No need for decorum, I'm too damn old for manners."

At these words the feast began in earnest.

—-

Naruto was salivating so strongly as he smelled and saw the various dishes situated in front of him. He may not have seen any ramen, but he was still hungry enough that the absence of his favorite meal was something he could contentedly live with.

Quickly loading his plate and digging in, the boy looked to his side at the child who had attacked the Hokage, the kid's plate empty as he sat angrily with his arms crossed over his chest.

Swallowing his first bite of roasted boar - which the blonde had to admit, was almost as good as a bowl of miso ramen - he spoke to the boy. "So, you're the Hokage's grandson, huh?"

The boy gave him an impressive dose of side eye. "Yeah, what's it to ya?"

Naruto returned his sour expression with a look of his own. "Nothing I guess, just trying to make conversation, ya know?"

"Yeah, well make it in the other direction! I'm gonna be Hokage one day, a loser like you ain't worth my time!" The boy proclaimed with certainty, sinking further in his seat.

A tick mark developed on Naruto's head in annoyance at the kid's behavior. "Yeah well, get in line punk! Nobody is taking that hat off the old man's head but me."

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

The younger boy turned up his nose at his elder, closing his eyes and looking off to the side. "No way a loser like you could ever beat my grandpa and become Hokage."

Naruto snorted in response. "Shows what you know! I created my own jutsu and it took out the old man in a second!"

The boy was still turned away with his nose up, but he did open one eye to look back at the blonde in an appraising manner. "... Really? You know a technique that can knock out my grandpa?"

Naruto gave the boy a toothy, mischievous grin. "Sure do. He was on the floor the minute it hit him. On top of that, I've been working on a stronger version that I think will be even more effective."

Now Konohamaru turned fully back to the boy, his attention undivided. "Will you teach me? I got this tutor named Ebisu but he never wants to show me any cool jutsu!"

The blonde boy thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No way! You're way too big of a brat to be my student!"

Before Konohamaru could shoot back his own scathing reply, the woman next to him cut in. "Oh he's not so bad. He's just over-eager to prove himself."

"Mom!" Said over-eager child groaned, clearly not appreciating her input.

"Well it's true, Konohamaru. You have plenty of time to grow strong and earn the title of Hokage. Beating your grandpa isn't going to make you Hokage overnight." She continued. She then looked at Naruto and smiled lightly. "My name is Asami, by the way. My father-in-law has told me a great deal about you, Naruto."

The boy looked at her puzzled for a moment before realizing her father-in-law was the Third Hokage. He then blushed and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Yeah well I like to make an impression, ya know?"

"I'm sure you do." Suddenly Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as her smile became even kinder, but for some reason terrifying. He was reminded of the interaction he had witnessed between the Nara family earlier. "He actually told me about the… technique… you used to defeat him. Such a jutsu is a bit advanced for someone Konohamaru's age, wouldn't you agree?"

The blonde, now breaking out in a cold sweat, nodded quickly. "Oh yeah, way too advanced until he's a genin like me, ya know?!"

"Chunin." The woman corrected pleasantly.

"Yeah, chunin!" Naruto agreed quickly, nodding so vigorously he looked like a bobblehead.

"Aw, but that's not fair! Naruto knows the technique and he's a genin!" Konohamaru cut in, the context of the conversation going right over his head.

"As the inventor of the technique it's only natural for him to know it regardless of rank. Superiors usually decide the ranking of a new jutsu, Konohamaru." She explained patiently to the petulant adolescent.

"Well then who's his superior?!" The boy demanded, his lips forming a pout.

She smiled serenely. "Right now? Me. Is that a problem?"

Konohamaru may have been headstrong and more than a little rebellious, but like all boys his age he was able to pick up on when there was no winning an argument with his mother. "Yes mama." He agreed sullenly, turning his attention to his plate.

"I thought so." The woman replied before turning back to the man next to her. "Such a headstrong boy we've raised, wouldn't you agree Ichirou?"

The man simply chuckled in return as Naruto once again pondered how scary mothers could be.

—-

As the two Hokage aspirants were getting along swimmingly, further down the table, Sakura and Ino were grilling Hinata about the only thing they particularly cared about; one Sasuke Uchiha.

"So tell us Hinata, what's it like getting to be on a team with Sasuke?" Ino said, her voice growing dreamy at the boy's name.

"Yeah, I'm sure it's wonderful." Sakura said, her voice taking on the same dreamy tone.

Hinata gently poked her fingers together, the other girls' more boisterous personalities intimidating her still, but she did manage to make eye-contact. "S-sasuke is… he's not very nice. But he has been a g-good teammate so f-far."

"Well of course he's not nice - he's too cool to be nice!" Ino exclaimed, Sakura nodding along in complete agreement with her rival's rather asinine reasoning. "What is he like as a teammate though?"

"W-well, as I said, he has been g-good… He wasn't all that open to working w-with Naruto and I initially, b-but Naruto managed to change his m-mind during the test. He even a-agreed we would be a good team when our s-sensei tried to pit us against each other, and argued f-for us to stay t-together." Hinata explained. "He's not very t-talkative when w-we go to lunch, b-but he s-seems to be warming up t-to us."

Sakura sighed, leaning back and placing the back of her hand on her forehead in a mock sigh. "You're so lucky. I would kill for the chance to warm Sasuke up…" She then froze, looking at Hinata out of the corner of her eye. "Say Hinata, you don't like Sasuke like we do right?" Ino matched her inquisitive and foreboding side eye.

However, instead of shrinking away from their scrutiny Hinata looked at the two girls as if they had each grown a spare head before giggling lightly. "No, not at all. I simply look at Sasuke as a comrade for now, maybe one day a friend, but I could never see him like that."

The girls looked at her queerly before shrugging. "No accounting for taste." Ino stated simply.

Sakura then grew a devilish grin. "Oh right, taste… Hinata's taste is blonder and louder, right?"

Ino did a wonderful job of matching her expression. "Indeed, if I remember correctly you're right. We've been selfish Sakura. We should be asking how it's going pulling Naruto's head out of his ass and getting him to look in her direction."

While she had not been thrown off by them asking about Sasuke, the heiress was certainly thrown off by this new line of questioning. "I-I d-d-don't k-know what you m-m-mean."

"Oh come on Hinata, you've probably talked to the loudmouth more in the last couple of days than you did the entire time we were in the academy." Ino groaned, never liking to have to work too hard for her gossip. "Surely you've made some progress getting him to notice you that way."

The girl desperately wished at this moment that she was wearing her usual coat so she could sink into it and hide from her peers. "W-we h-have t-t-talked m-more…" As her mind fell in the direction of Naruto Uzumaki, she suddenly felt a bit colder as a topic from earlier in the day came to her mind. "D-do either of you k-know where Naruto lives?" She asked, her tone an odd mixture of curiosity and dread.

The girl had not forgotten her teammate's accidental slip earlier that day. She knew he was about to say back when I was on the streets. Why would he have ever lived on the streets? Konoha had one of the best orphanage systems in the world, with even the most destitute among their population having food and shelter in exchange for grunt work or joining the shinobi academy. Naruto Uzumaki should have never been living on the streets.

"Where does he live? I don't know, probably alone in some apartment. Not like he has parents to look after him, right?" Sakura replied, her tone growing more haughty with every word. "That's probably why he's such a bad-mannered dunce. For all we know his parents are still around, they just might not want any more to do with him than the rest of us!"

Ino gave Sakura a reproachful look. "That's a bit harsh, ain't it Sakura?"

"More than a bit." Hinata cut in, her tone icy as that sensation - that anger - blossomed in her chest, back with full force. This was likely why she had never been able to make herself like the pinkette. She was spoiled, and knew no hardship. Only someone who had never suffered could mock another's pain as she had.

The girl, clearly not picking up on Hinata's sudden shift, waved her hand dismissively. "I mean who cares? What is he gonna do, tell his mom?" The girl laughed cruelly at her own little joke.

Breathing deeply through her nose and exhaling softly through her mouth in an attempt to gather herself, the blue-haired girl spoke in a tone laced with loathing. "Sakura… People like you make me furious."

The green-eyed girl looked at her and opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the activation of Hinata's Byakugan. "Can you even fathom what it's like to come home and have nobody to greet you? Care about how your day went, your grades, what you did in class? Can you comprehend true loneliness?"

Sakura recoiled as if slapped, but Hinata wasn't done. "Do you really think Sasuke would like somebody like you? You'll remember that he's an orphan as well. Or does your supposed love for him not extend to knowing even the basest facts about the life he has lived?" The girl stood up abruptly. "If there is one thing I have learned about Sasuke Uchiha, it is that he values strength over all else. You may have finished as the number one girl in our class, but did you ever even come close to beating me in sparring sessions? I bet you've both spent more time fixating on your figures and fashions than how to improve as shinobi since you were assigned to your new teams." She turned and began walking away. "I need some fresh air."

As she walked away, Hinata thought she might've heard a small bit of sniffling from Sakura, but the girl couldn't bring herself to care. For the first time since she started snapping on people, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that her words were warranted.

—-

Sasuke was very grateful he was seated where he was, in a sense. Across from him was Shino Aburame, who made no effort to start a conversation. To his right was Shikamaru Nara, who looked half asleep and was also not attempting to start a conversation. It would have been perfect for the brooding Uchiha if it wasn't for the fact that to his left sat Rock Lee, who was exuberantly discussing the now-set match between Neji and Team 7.

"Yosh! I certainly hope all three of you together can push Neji to new heights!" The green boy wonder exclaimed, eyes seeming to burn with his so-called flames of youth. "I have never managed to beat him in our one-on-one spars, but surely the three students of my sensei's eternal rival will have unmatched teamwork!"

"... Are you real?" Sasuke asked, giving the boy a tired glance as he propped his head in his hand on his cheek, head turned to the older boy. Lee had literally not stopped making boisterous declarations since he had sat down.

"Of course I'm real!" The spandex-clad boy replied, flashing a thumbs up and a gleaming smile. "As real as the flames of youth!"

Sasuke nodded, then turned his head and looked at Shino. "Bug boy. Please talk. It can be about literally anything if I'm listening to you instead of him."

Shino stared impassively from behind his sunglasses for a moment before standing slowly. "I have to use the bathroom." He said simply, before turning and walking away.

'Maybe I should've used his name if I wanted his help out of this.' The avenger thought to himself, letting his head slip out of his hand and thud on the table, turned in the direction of the dozing Shikamaru. His head now turned in her direction, he saw his once timid teammate standing and moving away from the table. He also noticed Sakura Haruno, one of his more annoying and persistent fangirls, looking like she was barely holding back tears.

'Wallflower, if you caused that, you're officially my favorite teammate.' He thought with a touch of cruelty - warranted in his mind, what with how much of a nuisance the Haruno girl had made herself for him over the years.

"Hey Bowl Cut, that girl over there looks sad." He said, pointing at Sakura. "Maybe you should go fan her flames of youth or whatever."

Lee looked in Sakura's direction and immediately turned red, though his eyes sparked with a determined flame. "Such a beautiful flower should never be sad! I will make haste to improve her evening. Surely you are more noble and youthful than I thought for bringing this to my attention, Sasuke!" With that the annoying teen left Sasuke's presence.

"Thank you." Shikamaru groaned. "I was never getting to sleep with him yelling every five seconds." As his head slowly began to lower, a fork embedded itself into the headrest of his chair, coming from further down the table.

"I'm up mom, I'm up!" The lazy boy said with unusually frantic energy, his back suddenly ram-rod straight and his eyes wild and filled with fear.

'Sensei better be getting some great ideas on what to teach us.' Sasuke internally grumbled.

—-

"So Kakashi, what do you plan to teach your students to overcome Neji?" Gai asked him, his eyes curious. The sensei had just finished bringing Asuma, Kurenai, and Hiruzen up to speed on the planned match between their pupils.

"Well, I have some thoughts." The cyclops mused. "First and foremost I'll teach them all tree-walking. I'm expecting Hinata to pick it up quickly with how much the Hyuga drill their kids in chakra control. Naruto will probably get it pretty fast too once I teach him how to abuse his shadow clones, and Sasuke, well, he is a genius."

"That will not be necessary with Hinata." Hiashi cut in from the other side of Gai. "It is standard for our children to learn both the tree and water walking exercises before they even enter the academy, and my daughter is included in that practice."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at that. "Huh. Convenient. She can probably use her Byakugan to offer feedback to her teammates on how to channel the correct amounts of chakra the right way."

The clan head nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that is why we often have little trouble teaching the exercises. They are easy to perform when you can visually see the flow of chakra and how it reacts with different surfaces."

"Good to know." Already getting Hiashi's input was paying off. "After that, each of the kids will get different instructions. I'll probably focus on adding a couple of new techniques to Sasuke's repertoire the old-fashioned way, since he doesn't have his Sharingan yet. Naruto seems like he could use help with the basics, and we'll abuse shadow clones again for that. When it comes to Hinata, I actually had something occur to me for her during our conversation earlier, Hiashi."

"Oh? What would that be?" The clan head asked, tilting his head to the side.

"If I remember correctly, part of what made Hitomi so effective was her unique application of Jyuken, correct?" Kakashi asked. "Something about being the only Hyuga worth a damn from more than fifteen feet away? No offense."

Hiashi smiled ruefully. "Indeed. My late wife became known as 'Hitomi of the Hidden Blades' because of her talents with all manner of thrown weapons and small knives. In particular, she could channel her chakra into senbon and hit chakra points from up to two-hundred meters away."

"That then. That is what I want Hinata to learn." Kakashi nodded with certainty. "As things stand, the team is imbalanced in regards to efficacy at different ranges. Hinata is mainly a close-ranged fighter and Naruto seems to know literally three techniques, with Sasuke offering the only abilities suited for mid to long ranged combat amongst them."

"True, however it won't do much good against Neji in a week's time. Hinata was solid in target practice in the academy, but that only pertains to kunai and shuriken. Hitomi took three months to develop her skills when she first thought of using weaponry at a high level." Hiashi replied, his brow furrowed.

Kakashi waved away his concerns. "Oh, I don't anticipate her learning it by the time they fight Neji. I don't even intend for that to be the focus this week, but instead something for her to work on in the future."

"Then what are your plans for this upcoming week concerning my daughter?" The clan head questioned, his eyebrow raised.

"I'm thinking I'll have her spar Sasuke while Naruto watches." The jonin replied in a lackadaisical manner. "Hinata may not realize it, but she's already quite advanced in taijutsu. She received the highest grades amongst her peers in the discipline in the academy, even over Sasuke, but most of her instructors noted that she seemed to lose confidence the moment she made even one small mistake."

Hiashi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I have suspected much the same over the years as she falls further and further behind Neji and Hanabi. Her movements are crisp and disciplined, and she has incredible flexibility and short-area quickness, but it's as if her abilities become exponentially worse the first time she is struck in battle, leading to even worse performance and inevitably, defeat."

Kakashi nodded along in agreement. "Yes, it comes down to what we've always discussed - a matter of self-confidence, or rather lack of therefore."

"And by having her spar her teammate, who is said to be a genius, you're hoping she can overcome this and fight at her best for an entire battle?" The Hyuga patriarch clarified.

"Well, that and the fact that having Naruto cheer her on should help. It'll also benefit Sasuke a bit to be humbled against one of his teammates. He still seems to view them as beneath him in skill, and while he's not wrong when you view their skills in totality, being shown he isn't the best in at least one discipline will be good for both how he views them and his own ego." The jonin elaborated. He then turned to Gai. "By the way Gai, I was hoping my team and I could start joining you for your morning workouts with your team. Would you mind?"

Gai, who had up until this point been watching the conversation, choked on his drink. Kakashi struck him a few times on the back in an attempt to help him clear his chest. "O-of course not!" The man managed to stutter out. As he finally cleared his chest, he looked at Kakashi questioningly. "I'm surprised you're willing - I've invited you to join Lee and I many times for our morning workouts."

"Well, I've come to the realization that I need to improve my endurance. My Sharingan takes up so much of my chakra that I'm often not able to fight at a high level for an extended period. Joining your workouts is going to be my best option for improving my chakra capacity." The man answered, rubbing the back of his head. "On top of that, I know my kids will progress fastest if I give you input into their physical conditioning. Fact of the matter is there's nobody in the village who knows more about how to maximize the results of physical training than you."

The man nodded appreciatively of his rival's logic. "I see your points - you've clearly thought this through."

"Well, I can't teach the kids everything. Speaking of which, once I get Hinata's confidence problems sorted out, do you think Tenten would be willing to help train her with senbon? I remember you telling me she's an outright prodigy when it comes to throwing weapons."

"I see no reason why not. But I have to ask, what would my team get in return?" Gai questioned. While he was a giving man who would always support his comrades, the arrangement as it stood so far definitely had a lot of give and no take for his team.

Kakashi rubbed his chin for a moment before snapping his fingers. "I think I could help Lee out. He can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, right? Leaving him only taijutsu?"

Gai grimaced at being reminded of his pupil's limitations. "Unfortunately yes, but he has managed to become a splendid ninja regardless!"

"Volume, Gai." Hiruzen cut in, otherwise watching the exchange silently while puffing his pipe.

As the Green Beast sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, Kakashi continued his train of thought. "I'm sure he has, but have you ever thought of adding to his toolbox by teaching him advanced stealth and assassination techniques? More weapon disciplines? You've likely trained him to some degree with nunchuku, but any way you can make him more versatile is a plus. I know it's not really your style, and by extension his, but with his limitations, he should learn and take advantage of everything available to him.``

Gai grew thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "While it may take a conversation with him so he can understand why he is learning some of the more underhanded tactics available in our world, it is something I can get behind. And how do you plan to make training Hinata worthwhile for Tenten?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm still no slouch when it comes to kenjutsu, so I could probably offer her a good sparring partner for melee weapons if she currently lacks one." He scratched the side of his head for a moment, thinking carefully. "Any chance you know what her elemental affinity is?"

"We have yet to check it. Why do you ask?"

"Well, depending on what it is, I would be happy to help her learn the basics of elemental streaming so her weaponry can become that much more dangerous. Even if she's a wind element, the principles for channeling it through other items will be the same, so I can still be of help." The copycat elaborated.

"If it is wind, I'll be willing to pitch in too." Asuma cut in, pulling a cigarette out of his pack and placing it between his lips. Taking a quick look up and down the table, Kakashi picked up on the fact that many of the Sarutobi were smoking some sort of tobacco as they finished their meals - a family habit then. "No offense Kakashi, but wind can be a bit tricky to get a handle on. I mean literally - if you're not careful, you can channel the element through the grip as well and cut your hands up pretty bad. I learned that the hard way."

Kakashi smiled with his eye at the chain smoker while Gai gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up. "I appreciate it, Asuma. I was actually going to ask for your help with Naruto. He's primarily a wind element even if he has secondary and tertiary affinities to earth and fire, and I've never really gotten the hang of the wind element. You'll probably be a better teacher for him in that regard than me."

"Sure, why not? I actually tested my kids after the meeting earlier and Shikamaru and Ino are both lightning elements while Choji is earth. I already talked with all their parents on the walk over - everyone agrees that developing their elemental affinities to give them diversity outside of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation is the best thing I can do as their sensei. I help your kid, you help mine?" Asuma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course, happy to return the favor." The cyclops agreed, doing the math on how he would have to split his time. It was looking more and more like he was going to be creating multiple shadow clones a day to be everywhere he needed to be, which wasn't much of a problem. So long as he wasn't heavily using his Sharingan at the same time, he could comfortably make between twenty and thirty a day without giving himself a nasty case of chakra exhaustion.

Kurenai spoke up next. "Well, since we're all making training our teams a communal project, does anyone have a student with potential in genjutsu they'd like me to work with?"

Kakashi and Asuma both nodded at the same time. "I'd like you to work with Shikamaru on that. Getting him to work hard at physical training is going to be like pulling teeth, but if I hand him something that relies on the mind to learn and get him to treat it like a puzzle, he'll put forth the effort."

"And I'd like Sasuke to learn more about genjutsu." Kakashi picked up where Asuma left off.

Kurenai looked surprised at this. "I would've assumed any instruction he received in genjutsu would be from you, considering your eye."

The cyclops shook his head in reply. "I'm not much of a genjutsu specialist really. I know tricks with the Sharingan yes, but in regards to general genjutsu I'm fairly average. Given who Sasuke is determined to fight one day, the more he knows about casting and dispelling illusions, the better."

Everyone present took a moment to exchange dark glances, as it was no secret what Kakashi was referring to. After all, Itachi Uchiha had been primarily known for two things above all else; his ungodly speed, and his absolutely terrifying mastery of illusions. Sure his talents for ninjutsu, taijutsu, and weaponry all needed to be respected and feared, but even other speed demons like Gai would be wary of keeping up with his movements, and even a genjutsu specialist like Kurenai would have better luck killing Hiruzen with both her arms behind her back than catching Itachi Uchiha in a genjutsu or disrupting one his more powerful techniques.

Changing the subject after their brief uncomfortable silence, Kakashi continued speaking. "What can we do for your team in return?"

"Well," Kurenai responded, biting the knuckle of her index finger as she spoke, "Much like Asuma, I decided to test my team's elemental affinities after the meeting earlier. Shino is an earth element, but until he gets older, his limited chakra pools due to how much is shared with his insect colonies will prevent developing that from being much use. If anything, I wouldn't mind if you were to teach him tactics for fighting efficiently Kakashi, seeing as you have a similar handicap by your own admission."

The cyclops nodded, not offended in the slightest. "In addition to that, I'd be happy to teach him some chakra-efficient earth ninjutsu. Something like the Underground Projection Fish technique could help him get out of a head-to-head fight, and learning the Mud Wall technique would offer him a good defensive option when facing a fire style user."

Kurenai nodded along with his input before turning to Asuma. "Kiba is a fire element, so I'd be interested in him developing that to complement his clan techniques. Make him more diverse at longer ranges and more dangerous in close quarters."

Asuma nodded in agreement. "I'd be happy to help the kid, though if he's anything like my old Inuzuka teammate Koga I'll probably have to smack him around a bit before he'll listen to me."

"Tell me about it." Kurenai agreed, rolling her eyes. "He's so loaded up with testosterone that it wasn't until I put him in a particularly nasty illusion that he stopped ogling me whenever he thought I wasn't looking."

Asuma chuckled. "And what genjutsu was that?"

Kurenai smiled sinisterly. "Let's just say he was put through a rather… Emasculating medical procedure at a veterinarian's office."

All the men present paled a bit at the implication before deciding to move on. "Alright, and what about Sakura?" Kakashi asked. He was curious if there was anything they could provide. After all, her file indicated she had great potential as a genjutsu specialist, and it would be laughable to say she didn't already have the perfect teacher for that.

"Her education should be well within my abilities." Kurenai sighed. "Really it's her attitude that has me at a loss. I question her reasons for becoming a ninja. She's more concerned with gaining the attention of Sasuke Uchiha than she is with becoming strong."

"That may be easier to work around than you think." The Hokage finally cut in here. He removed a small canister from his robes and took a pinch of tobacco out, placing it in his pipe before continuing. "What do you know of Sasuke Uchiha, Kurenai?"

The woman looked surprised at his sudden question. She pondered it for a moment before shrugging indifferently. "Not much outside of common knowledge. Last of his clan, considered a genius, very talented but also very antisocial."

The old leader chuckled in response to her observation. "You are quite correct, but there's something else to consider. Kakashi, how does someone earn Sasuke's respect?"

Kakashi pondered for a moment not only his interactions with the young Uchiha, but also his other students' interactions with the raven-haired boy. "He respects strength." The white-haired man answered finally. "Strength and competency. He treated Naruto with derision throughout the bell test, but since then after seeing the knucklehead snatch the bells and come up with the plan that allowed them to pass successfully, he has seemed to have more patience for him despite Naruto's more… Exasperating qualities."

Hiruzen nodded in agreement. "Exactly. If the boy respects strength, then Sakura Haruno will best be able to gain his attention by becoming strong. While a crush is not necessarily the motivation of choice for a ninja, if it gets her focused on her training, there will be little to complain about."

Kurenai nodded appreciatively of the Hokage's point. "Not ideal, yes, but you're right in saying that if it makes her stronger I'll have zero complaints. The question becomes how to put the idea in her head."

Before the conversation could continue, Hinata walked up to the group, bowing slightly. "I am sorry to interrupt everyone, but I was hoping to speak with Jonin Yuuhi and sensei for a moment, in private if possible."

Kakashi immediately picked up on her lack of stutter and remembered his conversation with Hiashi on the way to the dinner. He exchanged a sideways glance with the clan head and knew that he had picked up on this too. "Sure, Hinata. Kurenai, do you mind?"

"Not at all." The woman responded, standing and joining the three as they left the hall.

The group stepped outside quickly, greeted by the sight of a rapidly darkening sky, the reds and purples of sunset lighting the forest and an assortment of glowing bugs floating around. Kakashi took a moment to appreciate the sky before turning to his lone female student, who for lack of a better description looked as if she was sucking on a lemon.

"Hinata, it's good to see you again. How are you liking your team and sensei?" Kurenai began conversationally, clear fondness for the heiress dancing in her eyes.

"It's proving to be an overall pleasant experience. Unfortunately I did not call you both out here simply for an opportunity to talk about that." The girl replied, her tone controlled but terse. "Kurenai, I would recommend you speak to Sakura about controlling her tongue. I am running out of patience for people insulting my teammates today."

Kurenai looked as if she had been slapped by Hinata's brisk tone and easy direction of the conversation - the copy-nin would easily admit that it was a night and day distinction from where she had been only days prior, or more aptly put the difference between the full and new moon.

After a moment, the woman pursed her lips before sighing. "And what comments did Sakura make that offended you on behalf of Naruto?" It was a safe assumption that the girl had spoken disparagingly of Naruto and not Sasuke.

If Kurenai had expected the mention of her crush to fluster the girl, she was sorely disappointed. "She insulted him for his manners and blamed his lack of parents for it - going so far as to insinuate that his parents intentionally abandoned him."

A small bit of chakra flared from Kakashi, and both women looked at him in surprise. It was hard to make the man lose his cool, and without knowing of the connection between Naruto and Minato Namikaze they wouldn't understand such an obvious show of anger.

"Kids these days." The man said, his tone casual but his clenched jaw obvious through his mask. "They have no filter - insults like that used to result in combat challenges."

Kurenai sighed again. "While I do not appreciate her words about fellow Leaf ninja, I can guess by your tone that you had a riposte for her, Hinata?"

The girl's face morphed into a lesser-seen expression for her, a smile. However it was different from any smile that had ever before graced her delicate features, for the expression now held a cold malice. "I merely told her what I've learned of Sasuke over the last couple of days - of what he seems to respect, and how she is never going to earn his attention as she is now."

The red-eyed woman grimaced, knowing that there was little chance the pinkette would take such words well. She turned to Kakashi and gave him an exasperated stare.

The man shrugged in response. "Well, seems like it's mission accomplished then, correct?"

The woman groaned in frustration. "Perhaps, but I didn't want this handled so bluntly!"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes on his fellow jonin. "Sounds like she needed someone to get blunt with her. You know as well as I do what happens with princesses like her."

'Princess' was actually a fairly common term in the shinobi ranks, usually applied to civilians but sometimes to high-ranking members of clans, and it did not discriminate on sex. Anyone referred to as such was typically completely unknowing of the realities of the ninja way - the loss, the violence, the suffering that those who lived the life and loved those who lived the life suffered through. One of two things normally happened with these types of fresh genin: either they wised up when faced with the harshness of their profession, or they died. Occasionally they would survive their first brush with death and choose to leave active duty, but rarely did one both survive their first clusterfuck of a mission and still lack the mindset for the life of a shinobi.

The woman clicked her teeth in dissatisfaction but held her tongue, knowing she would be hard pressed to argue her colleague's point. Turning her attention back to Hinata, the woman's eyes softened. "Hinata, are you okay? This isn't like you."

The girl dropped her vindictive smile with a sigh, looking up at the rapidly shrinking twilight with an expression that was difficult to read even by her clan's standards. "I-I… Don't know." Her stuttered returned for the first time since she had asked to speak to the two jonin.

"I find myself in a strange place. I d-don't really like hurting people still, or being cruel but… For the first time in my life, I f-feel as if some people m-may deserve that. That it may n-not be such a bad thing to meet cruelty with cruelty if it m-means standing up to a b-bully." A small smile formed on her face. "Did I ever tell you of when I first noticed N-Naruto, Kurenai?"

The jonin blinked at the sudden change of topic before shaking her head. Kakashi stayed silent as well, curious to hear more of the event after getting the most basic mention of it earlier that day.

"He stood up to s-some bullies that were harassing me when I wandered off and g-got separated from m-my caretaker, Ko." Her eyes went somewhat glassy as she became engrossed in her memory. "T-they spotted me out as a Hyuga because of my e-eyes, and were t-taking out their anger at the upper class. But t-that didn't matter to Naruto."

Her smile grew wider now. "I t-think he just couldn't stand seeing someone getting p-picked on. They w-were all older boys, and I was small and weak and c-crying. S-so he p-proudly proclaimed he was going to stop them and charged them all."

She shook her head sadly. "K-Ko showed up while they were hitting him. H-he told me it was not proper for someone from my station t-to be seen with Naruto and l-left him to his fate. He was beaten savagely, but he showed up the next d-day in class with only a few light b-bruises, smiling like nothing had h-happened."

The young heiress looked at them both, a small and sad look on her face. "I-I never thanked him. I was too nervous that he w-would reject me, but… I think that was wrong of me. H-he's shown in the last couple of days that he may be brash, and rude without meaning to be, b-but… I think if I had t-thanked him, maybe we c-could have b-been friends sooner and n-neither of us would h-have been so alone."

She turned her attention back to the sky now. "I've s-spent most of my life not speaking up out of fear of f-failure. In only two days I have stood up to p-people more than I had in the prior twelve years of my life, and I can see things c-changing. I refuse to be quiet anymore when faced with injustice. So to answer your question… I think I am closer to being okay than I ever have been before."

The girl looked back at them one more time, her face holding a serene and peaceful smile now, as if she had suddenly come to peace with something significant. "It feels good to change."

Naruto looked out of the corner of his eye back to the child who had been sitting with a malcontent expression on his face since his mother had blocked him from learning a new technique. The blonde couldn't help but feel like he was missing something with the kid.

Blowing out his cheeks childishly, the boy tried once again to engage Konohamaru. "Alright, so what's your deal? Why you wanna be Hokage so bad, huh?"

The honorable grandson glared at him before sighing. "I just want everyone to see me instead of my grandpa."

"Instead of your grandpa? What's that supposed to mean?" The blonde asked, frustration giving way to genuine curiosity in his voice. It was not often he felt like he understood someone, but he strove to become Hokage for the same reason - the desire to be acknowledged.

The boy groaned in frustration. "Whenever I meet someone it's always honorable grandson this and honorable grandson that - even with you! Nobody ever calls me Konohamaru! I don't really even have friends because it always feels like people just want to get closer to my grandpa and they don't really even care about me."

Naruto blushed, remembering that his first question to the brown-haired child had been if he was really the old man's grandson. "That… Actually, it sounds really annoying. I get it, ya know? I don't really have friends either. I want to be Hokage so people will acknowledge me too - Naruto Uzumaki, Fifth Hokage, instead of some orphan or prankster or whatever!"

Konohamaru looked at him in confusion before slowly nodding. "I guess we aren't all that different then, but how do you plan to be Hokage? Grandpa assigned this guy named Ebisu to train me but he won't teach me anything cool, he just wants me to practice the henge and replacement technique and all that boring stuff!"

Naruto tilted his head to the side. A few days ago he would have readily agreed that someone needed to know cool jutsu to be strong, but then he thought about the bell test and how he succeeded against his teacher. "I think he's got the right idea honestly." The blonde boy said slowly, surprising himself.

"No way!" Konohamaru objected vehemently. "Gramps knows how to shoot fireballs and make big walls out of mud and stuff! There's no way the henge is gonna beat him."

"You might be surprised." The blonde shrugged. "My new sensei is supposed to be some super strong bigshot jonin the way everyone talks about him, but I beat him with clones and the henge. I guess the simple stuff is good sometimes if you can be tricky about using it."

"Tricky?" The young boy asked, eyes wide with innocence.

Now Naruto Uzumaki, despite his observational shortcomings, knew this was his chance. He had been worried he would not have the time to keep pranking now that he was a real ninja - but here he had a chance to make that concern moot by training a worthy successor to his throne of prankster extraordinaire. "Yeah, I've been pulling pranks on people around the village for years - remember a few days ago when the Hokage monument was painted?"

At the boy's nod, Naruto grinned wide and looked over at where Asami had been seated. It seemed as if she had left to go to the restroom - perfect. "Well that was me, ya know? Even the ANBU couldn't catch me because I'm so tricky." The blonde left out the portion of the story where Iruka had caught him as always - he was trying to look cool, damn it!

"Wow!" Konohamaru said, his eyes wide with surprise. "That's so cool! Can you teach me?"

'Hook, line, and sinker.' The blonde thought triumphantly. "I can do more than that." He replied mischieviously. Looking up at the head of the table, he realized his sensei was nowhere to be seen, his chair empty. A plan began to form in the young boy's head that would require the assistance of his new protege. "How's about you help me prank my sensei?"

The young boy's innocent expression began to morph into a foxy grin to match his new teacher.

At a simple apartment in Konoha's residential district, one Iruka Umino was enjoying a dinner of fried rice and shrimp prepared with the leftover rice from his previous night's meal. The chunin was quietly a major foodie - anytime he wasn't working on lesson plans or trying to keep up with his training, he was usually trying a new recipe or dining out at a restaurant he hadn't tried before.

Fried rice was a simple meal, but one of his favorites to cook. The man had grown up poor after the death of his parents after all, and he loved repurposing leftovers and creating new dishes from food that may have otherwise been thrown out.

As he chewed on his most recent bite, his mind wandered to the upcoming batch of new academy students. With Mizuki in maximum security, he would need to step up until a suitable replacement could be found for the traitorous teacher, leading to him having a larger class than normal.

He was thumbing through the roster of students due to enter and taking in names. He spotted a couple of Inuzuka, a Yamanaka, and even a Hyuga branch member. This class wouldn't have the cache of the most recent graduating group, considering those bunch were stuffed with clan heirs and the village's jinchuriki.

The man absently wondered about his former student - the boy's graduation may have been unorthodox, but watching him master the shadow clone technique in only a night had opened Iruka's eyes to the potential of Naruto Uzumaki. It was an impressive feat - and when the chunin thought back to Naruto's time in the academy, he realized that while the boy's many pranks may have been annoying and certainly would not be missed, they were impressive considering he often got one over on chunin and jonin with years of field experience. If it hadn't been for his own unique tracking jutsu based on echolocation, Iruka likely would've often been unable to find the kid as he escaped after one of his practical jokes.

'Still, while I'm going to miss him, it'll be nice to not have a chronic prankster disrupting class everyday.' The teacher thought to himself.

As he approached the end of the list, the man spotted one name that definitely stood out compared to the rest - Konohamaru Sarutobi, grandson of the Third Hokage. Iruka quickly ran through what he knew of the boy from the times he witnessed the child attempt to assassinate his grandfather while Iruka worked the mission desk - loud, brash, crude, eager to prove himself, dreams of becoming Hokage…

A shiver went down his back. The delicious food he had been savoring suddenly lost some of its flavor. Slowly in his mind, the mischievous face of a laughing blonde mixed with the equally mischievous face of the brown-haired boy.

'I must keep them from ever meeting.' Iruka thought to himself.

And then he remembered overhearing that the newest group of genin, their teachers, and their parents were having dinner at the Sarutobi compound that evening. Knowing there was zero chance he would luck out on the two meeting, the man pushed aside his meal with his appetite now non-existent and stood, walking over to the cabinet and pulling out a bottle of sake.

Alright, so, went MIA. Premature births suck, custody battles suck, work is too much, blah blah blah, honestly it's been so much I forgot I was writing this. Got an email that told me a I had a new review and I remembered. And when I came back to this, oh boy did I forget what a corner I've painted myself into with this whole event. Had to rewrite large portions of this chapter and I'm still working on rewriting Chapter 8 to compensate. So many characters, so many interactions I want to have happen, and all of it in one scene. Hopefully I'll have chapter 8 out before Christmas, but I clearly need to stop promising an update schedule.

Anyone else having issues getting their story stats? I swear I have them same amount of views on this as two months ago.

So, anything worth touching on... Hinata is developing fast, and I swear it has nothing to do with me being tired of typing her stutter. I won't be bashing Sakura, but she was the worst at the start of Naruto and will have some growing up to do before she becomes the BAMF she was in canon. I have a lot of fun writing Sasuke with a dry sense of humor. Naruto and Konohamaru are fun for everyone who isn't Iruka. This dinner is either going to be two or three parts, not sure which. Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, or both, special shoutout to Darth Tenibris2 whose recent review reminded me that I was doing this and I enjoy it.