Kiyomi tapped her foot, patience was a quality she possessed in spades but not today. Too many things coming from too many directions were there to stress her out. The gig for signing up with not-quite-kid-but-not-Hokage-either Naruto worked out – the new, temporary roster of Team Hokage was now official and the first obstacle in the path to promotion was now behind them but…
Naruto was a complete mystery. What were his skills, how would he benefit or subtract from the team? Before the roster was clear-set. Mana was an excellent ace to pull an unbelievable battle off with an unexpected, showstopping illusion or to bombard and devastate the enemy's stamina with impressive ninjutsu but she could only defend and dodge up close. That was fine – Meiko had that covered, the blacksmith was inventive in her own niche specialties but she lacked the ability to adapt or strategize in meaningful ways. She was incapable of reinventing herself on the fly.
Kiyomi was a bit of everything: competent illusions, above sub-par taijutsu skills and adequate ninjutsu but most importantly – she was the glue that stuck the team together. She could have linked those independent pieces together. If Mana was the nuke and Meiko was the noble warrior, Kiyomi was the person that put the nuke into the hands of the warrior and told the warrior where and when to charge. Also, if need be, she could have fulfilled any role that her teammates could during their absence, not as good, mind you, but just well enough for the absence to not tear the team apart.
Just who was Naruto? That was what the team needed to find out as soon as possible as it was only a matter of seven more days until the first stage of the Chuunin Exams started. Training with the ninja from different universes and timelines was difficult, they were still adapting to the wild leap of strength they needed to cover and were only halfway there. It was best if the different universes stuck together and worked with one another at their own pace. While the village looked supportive of mixing and mingling of different ninja from different universes and timelines, it was more of a political and ideological pop rather than one based on any kind of implied excellence.
"Would you like some cold tea?" Meiko mother suggested while the Yamanaka heiress waited for the blacksmith.
"No, I am quite fine, thanks." Kiyomi smiled and politely refused the beverage. She had figured that Meiko would abandon her tinkering for a moment and come with her at any moment now, she should have known better, frankly. She'd have been able to down four whole cans of the thing before the redhead peeked from the tin door she had to almost peel open in order to emerge from her workshop that Meiko's father so graciously splintered off of his own and gifted to his daughter on her sixteenth birthday.
"Hey, sorry it took so long but I'm ready now!" Meiko smirked, trying to dismiss her lateness and play it off but the somber depths of her tone betrayed that she did feel a little bad about taking this long.
"It's okay. You're the most reliant on preparation out of all of us. I admire how seriously you're taking this." Kiyomi nodded.
"There's no other option. We can't fail now." Meiko raised her fist up, ready to thrust it onward and make a bold proclamation.
"That's what we said last time, didn't we?" Kiyomi smiled, trying to alleviate the seriousness a little bit. It was her responsibility as a leader to manage Meiko properly. While the redhead could have been one of the most dominant, incredible and talented ninja in her generation, she was like a rod of iron, tough to smack someone with but if too much pressure was applied to it or if it was exposed to the wrong conditions – she'd snap. Snapped iron rods were of no use to anyone and were just sad to look at.
In that sense, the blacksmith was the most like a capricious southern flower out of all of the Team Hokage. Proper care and use of the flower's properties escalated unmatched growth and an excellent aroma to spread in the air but if the flower was allowed to feed the weed around it with its own nutrients and if the gloomy clouds above its head were allowed to rain freely atop of her head – she'd wilt.
Kiyomi had seen Meiko get frustrated and crush herself when she failed or when something went wrong and while it was natural, as heinous as it was, there could have been no place for that natural trait here, which meant that Kiyomi had to act like there was so that some of the pressure and gloom alleviated. That was why it would have been the toughest to replace the leader of Team Hokage – managing Meiko and seeing that she was in her best spirits was the core objective of the team.
"So, are we off to train?" Meiko wondered.
"Yeah. We just need to pick up Naruto." Kiyomi pointed out.
"I see. Will we find a spot in the training grounds to train in? This is the most hectic the village has ever been…" Meiko pondered. She pondered right but she did not dig deep enough. When encountering a problem Meiko was too eager to point at the problem instead of working around it. It was that and not her implied yet entirely fictional low intelligence that would have stood in the way of the blacksmith leading a team of her own.
"That's why we won't be training at the training grounds. You do realize that we cannot allow anyone who does not know our fighting style to see it before we have absolutely no other choice. From here on we can't fight with our real strength instead it is necessary." Kiyomi pointed out, almost as if making Meiko swear to it without actually swearing to anything.
The problem was that Meiko would have to lead a team once she got promoted. Maybe five years ago, or so, Kiyomi would have not minded and just seen to it that she got promoted, leaving Meiko's own growth to her teammate. Now she somehow felt responsible for training her teammate so that she overcame her shortcoming and started to think like a leader. Soon enough, she'd become one. If Meiko shriveled under pressure and her own gloom, she may have very well given up if she'd failed now when Kiyomi got promoted. Hell, the blacksmith had nearly quit ninja work entirely after failing her Academy graduation and graduating the next year, it was not until Mana noticed Meiko's talents and dragged the blacksmith out of her shell bit by bit that Konoha saw the hidden talents of this girl bloom to the profound use of the village.
"It's not like we're the ones looking for a fight…" Meiko sighed. Judging from her tone she acknowledged that Kiyomi was right and agreed to what she'd proposed but she acknowledged also that it would be difficult, given their endless streak of bad luck. "Anyway, I guess we're off to the Yamanaka Resort then?"
"Absolutely not." Kiyomi shook her head. "Leave alone the idea that some Yamanaka from other universes decided to see the place with their own eyes and take some of the knowledge that the Yamanaka from this universe have gathered, uncle would absolutely hate it if I admitted to him I was taking part in the exams. I'm the future figurehead of the clan, remember? The elites of the clan have figured I'm done playing ninja and that I'm ready to wear pretty kimonos and meet potential suitors now."
"Are you?" Meiko's words cut like an arrow. "I used to think that you're shaking that off but I don't think you are. I think you enjoy that part of your destiny, just like Mana used to enjoy being both a ninja and a stage magician."
"Don't get me wrong, I absolutely do plan on having a part in leading my clan. I'm excited about meeting some cute guy that's been taught and raised from their cradle to be a noble leader and a caring husband. But I won't feel right in that position if that's all I do and that's all I am. I want to feel like I deserve that position. Yamanaka are ninja and a genin cannot lead them. Sure, whoever my husband shall be, they'll be the ones leading but they will never be a Yamanaka, not really, they will not be the ones attracting the eyes of the clan ninja even if they will be commanding them." Kiyomi set matters straight. "I want and need this as much as you, if not more."
Meiko stopped to look at a torn poster before turning her eyes to a hectic display of countless shredded posters, all of which used to have the upbeat beam of a magician girl. The entire district used to be covered with those Egyptian-blue posters with stars of bubble-gum pink and glitter outlines to the accessories and a proud invitation to attend the magic show that would change the way one would see life itself. Now there were just bland, wooden boards and hanging shreds of remaining paper that would have required more effort than a scorned vandal was capable of to remove.
Kiyomi wanted to prompt her friend to forget about Mana but, given the circumstances, that was likely to be impossible. The ninja magician was once beloved and famous whereas now she turned infamous. As one change substituted the other, one thing to be certain of was that she was not going to be forgotten. Perhaps it was wrong of Kiyomi to ask Meiko to forget and move past Mana, just so both of them could spare themselves the pain and helplessness of remembering her. Then again, Kiyomi had let go of her severed bonds previously. In time she should be able to do it again.
"You're late!" Naruto yelled out when the two arrived by the Third Training Grounds, the only training grounds that Naruto seemed to be familiar of from his own time. "How am I the mindful one?" the young man sighed to himself.
"It's your fault we had to meet you up in this place instead of moving right to the Forest of Death as I suggested." Kiyomi snapped back at her new teammate even though she knew she was in the wrong – Meiko took quite a while to wrap up work and it wasn't like the two hurried up after that either.
"What? I know where Forest of Death is!" Naruto objected.
"Well, I told you we're going to train in the Forty-Fourth Training Ground, you said you didn't know where that was!" Kiyomi exclaimed all irked. This time her anger was justified.
"I don't know where that is but I do know Forest of Death." Naruto squinted.
"Forty Forth… Which one is that?" Meiko counted on her fingers.
"It's… The Forest of Death…" Kiyomi sighed in defeat.
"You should have said so. The Forest of Death is a lot more memorable than Forty-Fourth Training Ground." Naruto pointed out as if it was Kiyomi's fault he couldn't remember something as elementary as a handful of the most common and most important training grounds.
"It was pretty smart to gather here." Meiko stretched out. "We may all end up here at some point so it's good to get some early team-fighting practice."
"Right. One-on-one we're all overqualified. Meiko and I have skipped a pair of Chuunin Exams while we were already above the average level in the last ones, it was only because of the crazy competition last time that we ended up snubbed of our promotion. Given how your teammates are all chuunin, I'd guess your situation is the same?" Kiyomi looked at Naruto who nodded in confirmation.
"Splintered we're all set to ace this. The most dangerous parts will be early on, when the staff will need to eliminate the great majority of teams fast and when our success will depend on our intellect, leadership capabilities, and theoretical knowledge." Kiyomi voiced the reasoning for her plan. "That's why we need to stretch our legs and see what each of us have that could contribute to the team."
"There will be theoretical tests? Shouldn't we focus on that a little bit?" Naruto squinted as if he was feeling shaky in his gut and was about to purge all of it.
"There's no use. I can't make you smart overnight. This is the best use of our time." Kiyomi objected. "Now shut up and defend yourself."
The Yamanaka launched herself straight at the newbie member of Team Hokage with her entire body placed in an all-out offensive taijutsu stance. She was far from a terrifying monster of martial arts which was why her offensive would serve as a decent basis to judge Naruto's skill. If they were to figure out some neat team combos and where each of them stood in terms of their roles, each and every ninja specialty needed to be put to the test.
Naruto blocked Kiyomi's attack, entrapping her right arm with ease. That was impressive, he knew that the ninja from the different universe were not yet caught up with the locals, likely they would still need a few more days after the start of the exams, which meant that if there will be any mental tests, they'd be prioritized early on. Using that knowledge, the teen that would become Hokage in the future chose to entrap the limb of the enemy in a manner that denied a contest of speed and strength.
It was a simple entrapment however, textbook, in fact. While Naruto was decent at taijutsu, likely had his own fair share of close-distance brawls, he was not educated in it formally. It was unlikely he had any training than brief reads of passages from martial arts tomes or just natural experience through absorption of what he saw on the field. Kiyomi knew that sequence of locks and could have countered it with her eyes closed, she knew the exact moment when Naruto's transitioning into a submission that threatened to dislocate her arm would break upon application of force. It did not take long for Kiyomi's arm to be out of Naruto's control and for the Yamanaka to be all over the young man.
She was too fast for him, every single blow drove air out from his lungs and seemed to send punishing crunches through Naruto's body, forcing the youth to fly around from the amount of force he was hit by. Had it not been for the relentless combination from Kiyomi's part controlling her opponent's location, the ninja from an alien Konoha would have flown away after the first strike and removed from the battlefield.
"Your hand to hand isn't bad. It will do. Don't rely on it though, Meiko will have that covered far better than you." Kiyomi stretched her wrists, thinking her sparring partner finished. Before she could transition her posing into something embarrassing for her, given what was to follow, Naruto rose on his feet and wiped the blood off his lips and buster cheek.
"I have to say, I was the one who didn't expect you to be this good." The future Seventh Hokage grinned as if he was not just beaten to a pulp by a dangerously overpowered opponent, one that would have sent any lesser ninja into a trip to a hospital, something that Kiyomi would have been fine, given that the first stages of the exams were quite unlikely to be physical anyway.
"Heh, I guess that you guys caught up to us way faster than I thought…" Meiko snickered in excitement, somewhat mirroring Naruto's body language.
"No…" Kiyomi thought to herself. "He's just… That tough… This is amazing, I've never seen anything like this."
"I guess it's my turn to test you now?" Naruto turned serious all of a sudden before moving his hands into a hand seal position. Such obvious declaration of attack was foolish, Kiyomi could have intercepted his ninjutsu with projectiles, forcing his hands apart and preventing hand seals since he could not have telegraphed his attacks any clearer even if he tattooed the contract to attack on his forehead. No, even if she was a moth flying to a flame, she needed to see this, Kiyomi was curious.
Instead, the kunoichi reached for her back pouch and revealed a curved blade, attached to a steel ring. The blade transitioned into a windmill shuriken that Kiyomi lobbed sideways about in the same time as it took for Naruto to transition from weaving his single hand seal and speaking the name of the jutsu he was pulling off. That was the difference in reaction speed and fighting speed of the two universes still left to cover.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto declared, splitting his body apart into an assortment of a handful identical copies. The ease at which he split his chakra into multiple copies was dumbfounding. Even more, he used this dangerous jutsu with enough finesse and not a hint of effort on his body, to the extent where it was foolish to doubt that this young man utilized this jutsu in his arsenal day after day – a fact even more shocking than his use of the jutsu in general or his ranging on impossible endurance.
The clones scattered, a handful took to the air, using the shoulders of the front row of clones, another pair pulled out kunai and charged forward. The final, central pair looked focused on something else entirely. Kiyomi was no sensor but she could feel the intense build-up and pressure coming from the central pair of Narutos. Still, it was such a childish method of attack, gambling it all on a Shadow Clone jutsu just so he could sit still and channel his ninjutsu…
"Rasengan!" Naruto roared out while the clone assisting in preparing his ninjutsu poofed away, likely having exhausted the attributed stamina and chakra. Kiyomi couldn't help but marvel at the precision and mastery someone as brutish and numb-skulled as Naruto put into his Shadow Clones, he only inserted the absolutely necessary input of chakra into each clone and yet… Judging from what she'd seen, the newest member of Team Hokage still had ample chakra to spare.
That was when the knucklehead just started running at Kiyomi with his chakra ball in hand. With a wide roundhouse kick, the Yamanaka swatted aside the clones, wondering if what she was seeing wasn't some sort of idiotic attempt at diversion. He just ran at her? With that thing in hand? She was faster, stronger and he chose to not only engage her close-up but also do it with one of his hand disabled and his intentions of what he was going to use that hand for crystal clear?
Almost showing off, Kiyomi had juggled the kunai that one of the clones lunging at her previously lost and kicked it at Naruto with her foot. The blade stuck in the young man's chest halfway. It was then that the Yamanaka heiress realized this Naruto was a clone as well. He had molded his ace technique in the hand of a clone just to fake her out?! Just how much chakra did this monster have to be even able to think of such a trick without going pale in fear?
"Rasengan!" The Naruto from above roared as the clone that assisted the aerial Naruto in forming his own Rasengan spun his pal around in mid-air and lobbed it at Kiyomi like a human-projectile. The Yamanaka spun with a graceful pirouette that positioned her just inches away from the crashing Rasengan. Naruto whizzed right past Kiyomi and almost drove his chakra sphere into the ground.
"Shit, he's not aware how powerful he is!" a thought tingled in Kiyomi's mind. This was too late! He'd blow up half of the damned planet this way, sending ripples as far as it went in the process! Who knows, with his level of chakra… There might not be anything left at all.
When the dust settled, Meiko's grip revealed itself locked firm around Naruto's wrist, holding the Rasengan just good inches away from the ground, so close that the rotating storm inside sent the dust on the ground into a dusty whirlwind reaching up almost to the armpit. Naruto realized his flaw and let go of his jutsu, turning to Kiyomi with a satisfied expression.
"I guess I won't need to look after you two, you guys seem to be able of handling yourselves." Naruto declared with a smile wide enough to alleviate the impression of smugness one could have allowed to form given the words without the context.
"Likewise…" Kiyomi admitted. She did not expect anything resembling this. Written on any sheet of paper, this strategy should never have worked but due to the raw power of the user, unmatched endurance and monstrous stamina, there was just nothing stopping this madness from being given form.
"So?" Meiko wondered, realizing that the two were connected by a mental link, given the familiarity she had with the technique.
"He used an A-Rank jutsu on top of splitting his chakra into five pieces as a fake-out before the real deal and he's not even broken a sweat…" Kiyomi exclaimed, her thoughts were still shaky, it likely made them sound a lot more high-pitched and disorderly, Meiko would likely get the wrong impression that the Yamanaka was afraid, then again, there was a respectful speck of fear behind the mist.
"Yeah… A guy like that could have carried two Gwidos through all by himself…" Meiko nodded to herself.