"So we can't teleport to the land of rivers and begin our search there?" Menma asked
" 'Fraid not we're just going to have to tough out the heat." Jiraiya grumbled as a response
Kushina clapped her hands together "Well no use waisting time I know you all have your desert travel gear so get changed and lets get a move on!"
The three siblings groaned and went back to their rooms to get changed as Kushina and jiraiya smiled.
"aaaah the sound of genin being tortured, how I missed that." The toad sage smiled.
"One of the few secret joys of being a Jonin sensei." Kushina laughed as the two got ready on their own.
"It feels weird leaving Dad like this." Mito said as the other two kids nodded. All three of them decked out in white outfits to deflect the heat.
"we aren't leaving him, he has his own mission to do," Kushina walked up in her own white battle dress.
Jiraiya walked up beside her, like everyone else wearing white robes "Think of rescuing Karin as one mission and this as a separate one. Now apply you cooling tags before one we leave the village proper I don't want any of you getting heat stroke early on. Traveling the desert should take three days at chunin speed."
After saying good bye to Minato and the sand team the group left. Running at a moderate pace the group raced off to the land of rivers.
"Slow down Naruto, if you run at full speeds you will just tire yourself out, remember in this heat and with this sun it's dangerous to go full speeds." Kushina warned as she gently pulled him back a bit.
"Lets practice using different formations you all, there are five of us here so we will use the v formation." Jiraiya commanded "Kushina will take lead, me and Naruto on the inside and you two on the outside."
"HAI." Was the genin's response as they fell into line.
His mother's words proved true, Naruto thought as he ran through the desert. Even with reflective clothes and cooling seals the heat was brutal. They had been running for most of the morning now, with small breaks for the genin's sake. Other than passing sand ninja, there was not much to see, just sand and rock formations.
"Most towns, villages, and cities are based near the coast while a few are closer to the border of wind and keys. Suna is actually the closest part civilization to us due to the harsh desert winds." Kushina explained as they reached a travelers outpost "Excluding places like these made for merchants and other travelers. We will rest and eat here to regain our strength."
Lunch was decent, packed meats preserved for the desert with water to wash it down. Naruto saw a bunch of merchant's kids playing with a ball, he smiled.
"So last time we had pictures and reports on our fellow Uzumaki, but this time we're going in blind right?" Mito asked
Kushina tilted, then shook her head while making a so-so gesture with her hands, "We have sooooome info but its just that there a group of two boys two girls led by an older woman with a seal on her back but nothing more other than that We have an identifying code and a meeting place. They were trying to stay hidden. "
"So it's a case of we will find you, you just come to us, this sounds like a trap." Menma sighed.
"I don't think it is, both mom and Jiraiya-sama are S-rank ninja." Naruto said drinking some water before offering his canteen to Mito.
Mito waved her brother's drink away motioning to her own, "I think it's safe to assume they do solely on the fact that Jiraiya-sama's contacts were the ones to find them, they are safe."
"why are you two treating the perv with such respect?" Menma joked before becoming serious " why all the secrecy though? You'd think they don't want to be found."
Jiraiya swatted at the boy while Kushina answered the question "It's a little more complicated then it that. Many nations exploit the Uzumaki that live in their lands, Like what happened in grass. Also some of the nations that led the attack on our home still hunt us down either to steal our knowledge, study our bodies and healing, or prevent The uzumaki from reforming. The first Part of this mission was to make a statement that will be spread around the world, allowing other Uzumaki learn that Konoha is helping reform the clan. That's why we had to bring you three along to grass, as a statement of the clan's future."
"If I had know I was just supposed to be a model I would have worn my nice dress." Naruto smirked.
"Funny, if we're all rested up lets hit the road again. We can set up camp at the next meeting point." Kushina commanded " lets run diamond formation Jiraiya will be in the middle.
"I wonder how our friends are doing." Mito said as the group got ready to leave again.
Satsuki and Sasuke groaned as they fell into the ice bath of the ocean again
"Don't worry you two! You'll get it in no time! If I could do it first try then it's super easy!" Sakura cheered from the shore, having already mastered water walking.
"The worst part is she's being completely genuine." Satsuki groaned
"heeheehee, Yes, you can do it. We all believe in you~" Rumiko teased watching the twins shakily rise again.
"Actually the worst part she isn't." Sasuke shook some water out of his ear.
The two kept on it a little longer, slowly learning how to stand on the water. After that the two It was almost lunch time for the group in wave so sasuke and satsuki trudged back to land.
"Why is their ice on the ocean?" A confused Kakashi asked, walking over to his students.
"OH, Sensei!" Sakura waved. "Rumiko froze part of it to "motivate" the two."
"hmmm, I aprove." Kakashi nodded
"Eat a whole auditorium of dicks." Satsuki grumbled.
"maa maa I gets no respect I tells ya."
"You're standing on the sidelines joking while we have to relearn everything." Sasuke glared. Both Uchiha twins agreed to learn magic, the process to awaken their mana had scrambled their chakra control, something they only learnt recently. They had gone from being advanced even for a Chunin to pre genin levels in a day. Both grumbled at the loss and wanted to yell at Naruto for not warning them about such a change, until they were reminded the blonde Uzumaki was not formally trained at all when he unlocked his mana, and side stepped this issue entirely. The two had managed to get their chakra control to acceptable levels for genin, else they would not be on this mission but it was a far cry from the advanced ever for a Chunin levels they had gotten from their older brother and father.
"Just be grateful you have a head start on this training the other teams will have to learn this when they get back." Rumiko smirked. "If they preform well hehe."
Sakura, who seemed to have an inherent control of both mana and chakra, tilted her head "What do you mean?"
Kakashi signaled he'll explain this one "why do you think all the genin teams went on a c-rank at the same time? Especially with a secondary Jonin or special Jonin level ninja watching them?"
The gears in all the students heads started turning as they chewed their lunch. "We're being tested!" Satsuki exclaimed as she slammed her hands down! "But on what?"
Rumiko giggled as two foxes came up to her Kakashi inhaled he didn't want to be the one to explain this but here we are. "Do you three know what the Chunin exams are? yes? good. So you know how many villages come to the host to participate? Well this year is our turn. And despite it being a few months away we already are seeing some suspicious activity. Two unallied villages gave their correspondence, the newly formed sound and the cloud village, despite invitations not being given yet. And the stone village has demoted three full chunin teams to genin according to our network."
Sakura gasped "You think they're conspiring against us!"
"Could be, or they could all be individually trying to pull something." Kakashi shrugged "If we're lucky it could be nothing. The sound as a new village may want to make sure they aren't overlooked and cloud could just being boisterous as usual. Stone may just want to spy on our Yondaime's children. But the village will not and cannot risk the target painted on your backs. Your class has the all the great clan heirs in it, even without the red flags that's cause for concern. So we are testing you to see if you all are ready. If we believe you to be, we will have the Biniru clan give you access to Mana and train you in it's usage. So you have an edge on your opponents. You three have a head start.
Kakashi took a deep breath "but…this is where things get tricky, due to International politics many Lords and high profile clients expect your class to participate, Unless there is major extenuating circumstances. Like if Danzo's allies we couldn't get in the raids poisoned you during one of your cute little meetings and your chakra was scrambled to unusable levels."
"You knew about those? Wait… you knew this would happen?" Satsuki questioned.
The Jonin sensei leveled his unblocked eye on his student "Did you really thing a bunch of genin or academy students could hide from the elite of a ninja village in a public restaurant at night?"
There was an uneasy silence in the air as the team processed what this means. After a full minute Sasuke spoke first "I'm guessing because you told us we either passed or failed your test. May I know what were being tested on?"
Kakashi nodded "skill, situational handling and situational adaptability." Satsuki winced mentally kicking herself for being so rude with her sensei.
"No, no you three are in. Because of the Uchiha clan slaughter both the village and the clan needs to show the world the power of their potential Heirs. You need to be in the exams. That's why we have you guys learning this now. If mana and biju chakra could mix safely Rumiko would have gone with team 11 and the dysfunctional root trio would have been watched by one of lord hokage's personal guards. But thats neither here nor there. Take the afternoon of to process all of this. Also on pain of jail time and failing the chunin exams you are to not tell anyone else about this. We will tell them when we are ready." With that Kakashi and Rumiko stood up and left the kids to uneasy thoughts.
Shikamaru sighed as team 10 walked through Konoha's gates, after helping Issac unload the cart of the acquired materials he pulled his teammates aside. "I think mission was a test and we failed."
"Why'd ya think that shika?" Choji asked while eating some chips.
"The way Asuma sensei was looking at us. He seemed to be more critical then our d ranks, judging us and all but wouldn't reprimand us for the stuff he normally would. Like you eating your chips, me being lazy and Ino being distracted. Also he kept sharing glances with Issac."
Ino scoffed "Naw you're thinking too hard they wouldn't make our first c-rank a test."
"Actually your lazy teammate is correct," The voice of Issac rang out from all around them as he stepped out of the shadows. "your sensei thought he might get it."
The older generation of Ino Shika Cho dropped down in front of the group along with their sensei. The three teammates gulped.
"Sensei, guys come on! The location Akira-chan talked about is right there!" Kiba ran ahead only to be pulled back by Kurenai and Akira. Hinata breathed out an aggravated sigh.
"I'm assuming our teammates rambunctiousness is bothering you." Shino stated "Is there any way I can help?"
"Thank you Shino-kun but no… no there isn't." Hinata shook her head. "I just wished he listened to us, maybe it's my fault, since I didn't take him up on that challenge."
"Perhaps, but then it is my fault as well because I followed in your footsteps." The bug user adjusted his glasses
As team 8's sensei started to lecture Kiba, Akira walked over two the other two team members "So, whats this of a challenge I hear?"
Both teammates let out a long suffering groan. Hinata spoke first "When our team was first made after the graduate test Kiba demanded a bout to see who the leader of the team was, I disagreed based on the fact all three of us required leadership skills for our goals, we could take turns leading the missions."
"I agreed with her so the fight didn't happen." Shino followed up "Kiba acquiesced in the moment but never accepted our reasoning, so there was bound to be problems."
Hinata went to explain again "Don't get us wrong, Kiba is a great teammate and friend most of the time. When he's assigned to be support on the team he's a great support role when he's assigned a leader role he can be a good leader, but when Kurenai-sensei doesn't assign roles to take explicit charge of the team herself we get this…" the Hyuga heiress motioned to the path almost Kiba ran down.
"His behavior has made a few missions in the past more difficult then they had to be, like the Tora one for example." Shino commented.
A little ahead on the trail The dog boy clenched his fists in anger and disappointment with himself hearing what his friends said.
"Ah Guy and Yamato, I was expecting you two soon Asuma Came in yesterday." Dan Welcomed. "How did your teams do?"
Yamato spoke first as Dan motioned for him to, "My team did well on the mission, as expected. They need to work on socialization a bit, but they should be passable by the time we need them."
Dan nodded towards Guy next "MY YOUTHFUL TEAM PREFORMED EXTREMELY WELL!" the now bald man stated.
"Inside voice please." Dan reminded
"Ah yes sorry about that," Guy responded sheepishly "this wan't our first c-rank mission so my student's behavior was to be expected. Lee and Neji have become a great tai jutsu combo and Tenten really is a exceptional weapons mistress for her age." The three ninja accepted the praise with differing levels of excitement.
Dan smiled "then the Hokage authorized me to allow both teams to begin the new training."
True to Jiraiya's predictions it took three days to run threw the desert but now the team was happily in the land of rivers.
Naruto smiled at his family "so now, it time to begin our search!"
(A/n; hey guys sorry for the late update been distracted with college classes and finals. there might be a minor pause in this arc because this is a good stooping point and i found a little plothole i want to rewrite. my other stories will hopefully update as normal though, hope you all have a good day!)