The Headmaster's office offered a superb view of the courtyard. Homura watched students below leaving the building, some walking themselves, others picked up by their parents. He wondered if such care was coddling the future killers of the village, and then wondered if that made him as much a curmudgeon as was claimed in quiet corners.
He turned away from the site to face the six people he'd invited to his office. Assembled before him were the special instructors for the Buds and Blossoms program he had formulated. Each held a folder containing the lists of students attending their classes.
The duty was not compulsory, though he would have considered it had such capable individuals not put themselves forward. Hiruzen would have surely authorized such an acquisition of talent. But the call had been answered by experts ready to ensure his program's success.
His wounded pride still bristled recalling the abrupt dismissal from his previous position. He spent some weeks simmering in indignation with sake bottles accompanying him into the night, and Koharu's complaints to chorus his own. He had first taken to his comfortable office with the petulant intention of doing the bare minimum and coasting until a suitable time had passed, when he would quietly retire from the public eye.
A dignified sendoff for a seasoned shinobi and politician such as himself to spend the rest of his days rotting away. Was that not Sarutobi's intention?
Despite himself, once faced with the possibilities laid out before him, Homura almost effortlessly acclimated to the role Hiruzen had demanded of him. His brain was unable to resist thought exercises of structuring a curriculum born to meet the needs voiced by several lifetimes of complaints he had both heard and considered. Once he had the proper framework, he simply couldn't help himself in implementing a grand design.
It wasn't quite addressing and quieting the problems always cropping up to pose threat to the village's wellbeing. Yet what could have a greater impact than shaping the children that would shape the future?
Once his vision cleared, Homura saw past his own self-importance of having a seat at the highest table with the biggest stakes. His old teammate had entrusted him singularly with the duty he considered of greater import than any other. In his heart, Sarutobi would probably enjoy nothing more than teaching each and every student himself. Yet he remained where his acumen was most needed.
This realization softened the blow that the God of Shinobi no longer needed him by his side. The secret shame of his original intent, and his lack of vision, Homura would take to the grave. He would not fail Hiruzen or himself by letting this opportunity go to waste.
"Thank you all for coming," he said, running his bespectacled gaze over the special instructors. "Today marks the beginning of a new era in training Konoha's shinobi. In years past we have pulled trainees from the academy early… As was the case for each of you. A necessity that arose with such frequency that it became rare to see shinobi attend the academy for the full seven years. We have been given something of a reprieve in this time of peace, an opportunity to prepare our shinobi more thoroughly. We have not made full use of that time. With your expertise, that will be corrected."
"Sir!" they chorused.
"Those who stand beside you are your esteemed colleagues. Should you be sent on any missions that prevent you from giving lessons, a substitute will be arranged to take your place for the duration. You're expected to coordinate with one another on your findings and lesson plans where they intersect. Primarily, this focus will be on the individuals that appear in multiple classes. Perhaps the Blossoms may remain the same, but I expect those in the Bud classes to alternate as they advance and progress out of the bottom rankings."
Ebisu cleared his throat. "Homura-sama, if I may. I have a question regarding that."
"Go ahead."
"I fully understand giving special training to the most promising students. Excellence should be encouraged. Mediocrity tolerated," he said, adjusting his glasses with a frown. "But why give such attention to the untalented or unmotivated?"
"There is an old saying I picked up from my time stationed near the coast. A rising tide lifts all ships. Increasing the aptitude of even the most lacking elements of our shinobi will increase their overall likelihood of success once they are entrusted with tasks for the upkeep of the village. And if each student is motivated to avoid becoming one of the Buds, or strives to become one of the Blossoms, this competition will drive everyone to improve from the bottom up.
"Well, I suppose some gaps in talent can't be bridged," Homura said, briefly eyeing the youngest amongst them.
The boy did not register his scrutiny in any way. As unflappable as one would expect of someone who entered the ANBU at the age of ten.
"It must be noted," Homura continued, "that talent can be overlooked amongst curriculum. Spreading attention over a group of tremendously varied skills will leave cracks for individuals to slip through. And may ultimately end up holding back or endangering other shinobi. For that reason these classes are smaller, which will give us the chance to focus more on the individual."
"I see the merit, of course. But with every system comes the chance to abuse it. What of the students who are unable or unwilling to rise above the ranks of Buds?"
Before he could respond, an answer came from a boisterous source. "I should think the question then would be if we provided them with adequate teaching, should it not?" Maito Gai asked with an enthused grin.
Ebisu adjusted his glasses in a matter Homura recognized from his own. In irritation. "The finest smith does not craft a masterwork from inferior materials, Gai-san."
"My intention in that regard is thus," Homura said, before a debate could emerge. They could hold such dialogue in their own time. "Any who find themselves as Buds for four consecutive semesters will receive an academic review to determine the cause. Should their scores meet the standard, and they are merely at the bottom due to collective excellence of their peers, then it should prove no issue. Otherwise the individual or individuals in question may find themselves on the verge of expulsion. If they cannot succeed in such environs, with every tool at their disposal, I would not trust them to succeed in the field.
"By the end of seven years, our graduates must be capable of surface adhesion and surface repelling, to fight in any environment. Dispelling genjutsu. Some level of specialized ninjutsu. Weapon proficiency outside of kunai and shuriken. Each capable of leading a team of three. With a final examination that resembles a B-rank mission."
Itachi held a look of uncertainty. "Is this… abnormal for graduates?"
Tsume barked a laugh. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't get it, but most don't know those things until after some time in the field."
"Perhaps that is why it hasn't been covered by the past curriculum?" Ebisu guessed.
Aoba let out a low whistle, then grunted when Tsume elbowed him through his vest. Rubbing his side, he said, "Sounds like you want them to graduate ready to take the chunin exam."
"Or very near," Homura said. "Seven years of general education supplemented by special tutelage should be plenty to produce such shinobi. Chunin are what make the village function, and I'll see it done that each graduating class is a flock of them. This training will also push those capable of jonin into emerging more quickly as well."
"Such a massive shift in standard could prevent many capable students from graduating, Homura-sama," Aoba said. "I'm not certain I would have made it through such a strenuous test at their age."
"Though I encourage each graduate to meet the coming standard, there is currently only one class it will only be mandatory for. The other years will be grandfathered in."
Tsume chuckled. "So my boy's in for a rough time, eh?"
"You're not worried, Tsume-san?" Kurenai asked.
"Nah. He's a tough kid, resourceful. He'll pull through and be all the better for it."
"If there are no further questions?" He received none. "I've reserved room three-eleven for the exclusive use of special instructors. I invite you to make use of it, and leave you to your devices."
"Sir!"
The instructors made their way to the designated room almost on the opposite side of the building.
Six desks and a filing cabinet took up much of the space. It was almost cramped, but more than manageable. Each shinobi had worked in far more uncomfortable conditions in the field.
Gai seemed nearly allergic to the idea of sitting at a desk but finally settled on the one nearest the window. Kurenai wondered if it was considered the best seat and if the others left it for him instinctively or out of calculation, given he was the highest ranked amongst them.
Kurenai simply took the last one remaining, as it made no difference to her. She was a chunin with more than one superior in the room.
Their ranks weren't relative to their roles as instructors, with each of them having equal authority over their own given subjects that could not be encroached upon by the others. That she had been assured of by Homura-sama, else she wouldn't have taken the position.
Still, she didn't want to step on any sensitive egos so many jonin seemed to posses. Kurenai was determined to be above such petty behaviors once she made the rank. For now, she'd have to get a better measure of the people she would be working with before she could proceed.
Her eyes caught Inuzuka Tsume's and the older kunoichi smirked and waved from her desk in a magnanimous, animated gesture, as though she knew exactly what Kurenai was thinking.
Tsume was a friend of her jonin sensei, and Kurenai always held respect for her, and in her younger years, a tinge of fear. That fear was now gone… mostly.
Aoba seemed a calm, reserved and capable person from what she had observed. He had been the top student of his year and risen through the ranks quickly. Known as an adept at subterfuge, extraction and withdrawal.
Gai was the only jonin, and though he was possibly more full of himself than any man she had met or could fathom existing, he also seemed to be a consummate professional in situations in which his personal passions had to be tempered.
Ebisu was widely regarded as a brownnoser who rubbed elbows with some well to do circles. He had been hired as a private tutor by several clans, and seemed to have done well enough to garner a reputation for it.
Lastly was her sensei's own son, who had chosen the desk in the furthest, darkest corner with his back against the wall. That was a habit she'd seen in many shinobi who had survived grueling encounters. You had to be careful what you did behind their backs. It was a bit disturbing to see it in one who she conceptually knew was a child.
She had meet Itachi several times when he was much younger. A quiet, almost comically serious child with a penchant for breaking long held silence by asking a disturbing question relating to their ineffaceable mortality.
Kurenai felt certain none gathered would be offended if she took a bit of initiative.
"If I may make a suggestion," Kurenai said from her desk. "Perhaps we should introduce ourselves, what subject we will be teaching, and our reasons for volunteering to teach these classes. I'm quite curious myself why others have."
"Sounds good to me," Aoba said, sitting back with his arms folded. "And I think it prudent to go in the order of the classes being taught throughout the week."
Gai had been smiling, she caught the gleam of it in her peripheral, but deflated with a sigh, since that order put him last.
"Then I suppose that would leave me to begin," Ebisu said. He stood from his seat. "I am Hiruko Ebisu, chunin. I shall be instructing in ninjutsu. When I heard about this program, I thought it a prudent position for me, given my expertise in both tutelage and the subject matter. I should be glad to pass on my teachings to such gifted students."
"And you thought it would look good for your career," Tsume said, grinning.
Ebisu adjusted his glasses. "It certainly won't hurt if this position expedites a promotion in my near future."
"Guess that leaves me next, eh? Name's Inuzuka Tsume. Special jonin. And I'll be teaching the kiddies about keeping each other alive with teamwork. Reason? The pay, duh!"
Kurenai cleared her throat. Mostly in an attempt to suppress her smile. She could only imagine Mikoto-sensei's frown of disapproval and lecturing Tsume on being a better role model. And Tsume nodding along until she asked to go out for drinks.
"Yuhi Kurenai, chunin. I'll be teaching genjutsu. My hope is to increase interest in this branch of ninja technique, as I feel it is severely underutilized. I think there are many shinobi that are ill-prepared for a properly crafted and well applied illusion… And I would hate for that to be one of our students."
"That'll be tough," Aoba said, leaning back in his chair. "Truth be told I don't envy your task. Scarce jonin can craft a decent genjutsu, and you're teaching a bunch of hormone addled students."
"I agree with both assessments," Itachi said. "Genjutsu is an undervalued art, challenging for undisciplined minds. But it can end fight before it has begun. Surely there are some capable with proper instruction."
Kurenai nodded, noting a hint of enthusiasm in his tone. She remembered Mikoto-sensei mentioning that her eldest had a gift for illusions.
He stood and bowed his head. "Forgive me, I have not introduced myself. Uchiha Itachi, chunin. Pleased to meet you all. I will be instructing students in weapons."
Tsume snorted. "So why's a certified badass like you here to teach brats? Didn't you bolt out of the academy in like two weeks? People like that don't typically look back."
Kurenai winced.
"Four months," Itachi said quietly. "As for why… It seemed to me the best use of my talents. I… have always wanted to be a teacher."
"No kidding? Well, happy to have you on board. Heard your little brothers been doing his damndest to show everyone else up."
"He hasn't been bragging has he?" Itachi asked with a reproachful tone.
"Quiet as a peep from what I hear. My boy was just loudly shocked how far he was from being top dog."
A light entered the boy's dark eyes, and Kurenai nearly disbelieved her own eyes when he smiled. "Sasuke is quite talented. He'll be a better shinobi than me someday."
"You really mean that," Tsume said. Then she snorted. "Wish my kids could get along half as well."
Itachi seemed relieved. Maybe Tsume knew more than she did about handling a taciturn young man.
"Kamishiro Aoba, special jonin. Tactics and strategy will be my domain of education. I'm here because I'm curious to see how well the academy Homura-sama envisions will turn out. Go ahead, Gai, I know you've been dying to get it out."
"My thanks, Aoba! Though I'm certain my reputation precedes me, allow me to introduce myself! I am Maito Gai, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Battle! And it will be my honor to take the taijutsu of the youth to greater heights!"
Gai's passions and proficiencies were known, and it was rumored he was even more skilled than many, if not most Hyuuga in taijutsu, something that had been unthinkable for one with no clan. She thought the students were in for a thorough, fulfilling string of lessons that would hopefully outweigh any mental scarring they endured.
"Yeah, no one could have guessed that's what you'd be teaching," Tsume said with a grin.
Gai merely answered with his own.
Kurenai had the distinct impression that the two were previously… acquainted. She shook her head. That couldn't be, and even if it was, it wasn't her concern.
"I envy you for getting to go first, Ebisu," Aoba said. "I can't wait to get started. If this program is successful, we'll have a great influx of skilled shinobi to swell the ranks. Reports are other villages aren't being stagnant in raising their next generation."
Ebisu frowned, adjusting his glasses. "I think there is great potential returns for the time and attention we pay to the top students, the Blossoms. I am not so certain about the Buds."
"But teaching the talented is easy, isn't it?" Aoba asked his fellow bespectacled shinobi. "The true challenge is teaching those who struggle. Should we devise teaching methods to help Buds advance, then we may well be able to teach anyone. I'm certain that's what Homura-sama meant."
The chunin frowned. "A tide lifts all ships, was it?"
Aoba nodded. "As far as coordinating our shared students, I've read the lists, and there does seem to be a good deal of overlap."
Kurenai looked at her own sheets. The names of those in multiple classes were highlighted a different color. Those in two classes were blue. Three to four were in yellow. Four to five were orange. Any name in all six classes was red.
"Far more red names than I would have expected," Kurenai said. "Hyuuga Neji, Tenten, and Uchiha Sasuke." She turned her gaze to Tsume. "Inuzuka Hana."
Tsume leaned back in her chair like an architect admiring a job well done. "That's my girl."
"Hana-san was always a diligent student," Itachi said.
"Oh yeah? She'll be happy that you remember her."
Itachi blinked. "Why?"
"This kunoichi seems to be the most promising," Ebisu said. "A student from this year's graduating class. Iga Shinobu. She has the highest scores by a clear margin."
"Shinobu," Gai said with a befuddled expression bunching his thick eyebrows. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"
Aoba's mouth twisted into a grimace. "She was a war orphan, brought to Konoha towards the tail-end of hostilities with Iwa."
"Sounds pretty bog standard," Kurenai said. "What would make it a memorable case amongst hundreds of others?"
"Because she originates from outside our borders. From Tsuchi no Kuni, to be exact."
"…oh."
He nodded. "She had no memory of anything prior to that. We checked. It was suspected that she was a plant."
Kurenai gave him a dubious look. "She would have been no more than four years old."
"That's old enough," Itachi said in a near whisper.
"Iga… Surely she isn't descended from that clan of legend?" Ebisu asked.
Aoba shook his head. "She chose the name herself. As for her given name… that was bestowed upon her by her rescuer. Yondaime-sama himself, back when he was a jonin."
"Ah, that's why I remembered! Kakashi mentioned her way back then. Yondaime-sama returned to the village after…" Gai cleared his throat. "Well, he must have dropped her off before returning to the battlefield and ending the war."
"How fortuitous. Was it ordained that a man of unparalleled talent would retrieve another talented child?" Ebisu mused.
"And that's something people resent her for, since she was born in enemy territory. It's rumored she was ready for early graduation, but was held back due to her origins. We were worried she would come to resent the village, but she hasn't shown any signs of disloyalty."
"Rather she's one of ours than one of theirs," Tsume said with a scowl. "Iwa doesn't have a problem churning our troublesome ninja as is."
"Not all the red names are a good sign, unfortunately," Ebisu said, raising the sheet with his Bud students. "On the opposite end, it seems there is a student struggling greatly. One Rock Lee. Uzumaki Naruto has some scores just as bad. The reality is that some students will simply not be cut out even for the reserves."
"That isn't truly an option for Uzumaki, is it?" Itachi asked.
A long, uncomfortable silence stretched out for the group, each ninja taking glances at one another.
"That's more a bridge to cross if we ever get to it. We shouldn't consider giving up on any student before we've even taught them a single lesson,"Aoba said.
"Hey, it's not all bad with Uzumaki. Seen her marks in taijutsu and weapons? Nearly at the top."
"Does it strike anyone else as odd that her skill could fluctuate so drastically?" Kurenai asked.
Tsume shrugged. "Maybe she's just not good with books. Her mother was the same way as a kid. It's obvious she didn't take after her father, given Minato was such a huge fuckin nerd."
"T-Tsume-san!"
"What? It's true. Namikaze Minato, revered Yondaime Hokage, was an ultra nerd. Always had his nose in some scroll or book, muttering about chakra displacement and spirals or some such. Hmph, I blame him for turning Kushina into one of his kind, too." She smiled fondly. "He always had the cutest depressed face when I called him that."
"Tsume-san, you bullied Yondaime-sama?" Itachi asked. He seemed awestruck.
"Please, that was nothing compared to what Kushina did. Though I guess she made it up to him later… Anyhow, if Naruto's anything like her mother, and boy does it seem like it, just keep in mind that Uzumaki weren't known for tiptoeing around the battlefield. They made themselves known."
Ebisu squinted in thought. "What do you mean by that, Tsume-san? Is there something special about the Uzumaki?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess it's not known too well since Kushina was the only one in the village for a while. And Mito-sama always kept her skills hidden. But they had huge reserves of chakra as a standard. She told us her whole family was like that. And Kushina inherited this quality in spades. Why do you think all three chosen to host the Kyuubi have been Uzumaki?"
"I see," Ebisu said, standing. "I shall endeavor to keep that in mind. If you'll all excuse me, my class should be assembled."
"Ninjutsu, it can be said, is the essence of being a ninja. Hence the name."
There was no desk to take notes on, which suited Sasuke. This classroom was meant for putting theory into practice, lacking furniture outside of the teacher's desk at the front.
Usually he left his notebooks scarcely scribbled in. An exceptional memory made notes largely unnecessary, and he only ever jotted down something obscure he thought the might forget. But those tidbits rarely turned out useful anyway.
"All elements of a shinobi's arsenal are important," Ebisu-sensei said, looking at he students sat in a circle with him. "You cannot afford to be lackluster in any area, unless you are prepared to have that weakness exploited. But I maintain that ninjutsu is paramount. The greater your arsenal of ninja techniques, the greater your understanding of chakra. Its properties and limitless potential."
Limitless potential. He liked the sound of that. Throwing stars were one thing, but maybe his lack of understanding such jutsu were what held him back from catching up to Itachi.
He was a bit nervous to be surrounded by all these senior students. Some of them older even than his brother, enrolled in the academy before Sasuke's mere five years of life had begun. He wondered if he would be able to keep up.
Sasuke mentally shook his head. The fact that they were still in the academy meant he already competed with and was measured against someone far stronger. Not a one was even taller than Itachi.
He glanced beside him. Shino was a familiar face. Well, familiar high collar and hood. They had been sat together by year. Shino seemed the same as he did at any other moment, unfazed by the company around him.
"Now then," their instructor said, "they tell me you are the cream of the crop. The best the academy has to offer. Let us see how well you apply what you've learned. I will call out the technique, and you will each perform it."
He rose from his seated position, and the students followed.
"Transform into a copy of myself!"
Sasuke swiftly formed the hand-seal. The jutsu was as easy as slipping on his sandals. When the smoke from their collective transformations faded, the teacher scrutinized them. Over a minute passed before he nodded.
"Transform into the person dearest to you!"
Sasuke hesitated, unsure of who occupied that space in his heart. He tried to think it through as he heard several pops throughout the room.
"Your opponents will not wait! Do it now!"
He hurriedly performed the technique.
"Sasuke-kun?" he heard.
That voice came from his other side. That annoying blonde girl. The other one. He didn't know any other kind. He was surprised by her aptitude for ninjutsu. She kept pace with himself and Shino in class.
The girl had been replaced by a tall man with a darker blond than her own or Naruto's. Standard Konoha uniform and a red jacket on top. Sasuke remembered him from the entrance ceremony, when he had taken in his father's disinterest. Unlike his father, this man had been beaming with excitement, pride, and dread from sending his daughter to school.
He wondered if her naturally high pitch coming from that form counted as a failure to execute the technique. The eyes of that transformation were looking at him with shock.
Sasuke looked down at himself and saw a mishmash of of features taken from his brother, mother and father. He didn't want to imagine what face he had conjured. Sasuke immediately dropped the guise.
"To utilize your ninjutsu, you must harness your focus and keep a clear vision in your mind's eye. If you are startled by such a thing, you won't be able to use your jutsu effectively in the face of an enemy."
Ebisu looked directly across from him, the place in the circle of students farthest from himself. He approached and judged. Sasuke's eyes followed, along with a number of other students.
"Well done, Shinobu. A perfect replica, and performed most quickly."
Perfect? Well he had no way of telling. Sasuke had never seen the legendary figure in person, but like any citizen of the village, he recognized the face. Identifying the four Lords was a part of the entrance exam to the academy. Though he had no idea that the Yondaime had worn such a stylized coat.
"Now, perform the bunshin jutsu without dropping your transformation."
This Shinobu did so, and standing beside him was another replica of the Yondiame. Sasuke eyes widened, intrigued. He didn't even know it was possible to use both techniques at once.
"Very good," Ebisu said, turning to face the rest of the students. "And those of you who performed your transformations correctly. Can you do the same?"
Sasuke didn't make the attempt, having already failed this test. The very thought filled him with dread. It wasn't the same as being unable to replicate his phenomenal brother. To be outdone by mere students.
He watched with satisfaction and relief as his classmate failed, dropping her transformation and the clone dispersed. Most of the students failed.
Shino adjusted the glasses of the figure he had taken, one that seemed to be his own father. Then performed three crisp hand-seals. A perfect clone appeared, creating a cold pit in Sasuke's stomach.
"Very good. Drop your transformations and dismiss clones."
The students did so. Shinobu dropped their guise, revealing themselves to be a girl with brown green woven into a series of braids.
"I suspect most of you have ninjutsu at a suitable level to graduate. But that is the mere barest of standards. And I say, as the best amongst your peers, you shall all strive to achieve excellence!"
"Yes, Sensei!"
"Those of you who performed successfully, approach. The rest of you will continue to work on combining the clone and transformation together."
Sasuke felt a physical blow as Shino stood and joined the next lesson, leaving him behind. Shinobu approached, as well as other students, including one that had the same facial markings as that loudmouth Kiba.
He spied them being handed small, rectangular sheets of paper.
"What are these, Ebisu-sensei?" Shinobu asked.
"That is your next assignment, given you have proven mastery of the basics."
Sasuke felt his stomach churn.
Itachi needed mere months to prove that he was unrivaled within the academy, better than their graduates. Sasuke was not the best in the school. He supposed he could accept that, given how long other students had trained.
But how was it his ninjutsu wasn't even the best in his own class? His score had been the highest. He eyed Shino's back suspiciously. Had the other boy been holding back? Or had he been training his ninjutsu more in response to being second?
"Don't worry Sasuke-kun. We can get it right," the girl said.
Sasuke glanced at he girl. She was annoying, but she was right. This was the chance to get better that he hadn't known he needed. He nodded, which made her face light with a smile. He ignored it.
He got to work and formed the signs. To gain his father's acknowledgement as a worthy Uchiha, he had no choice. As Ebisu-sensei said, he would be nothing less than excellent.