Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Day 337
Unlike Kakashi, Fugaku-san, or rather Fugaku-sensei, was not late. In fact, he arrived as soon as the team announcement was done and made us follow him.
"Keep up your pace," he shouted. We were jumping from rooftop to rooftop, a skill not taught in the academy. Luckily, we had already trained in tree walking. Perhaps he knew that and was making us run this way.
Didn't all Jonin sensei receive a file on their students? I remember Kakashi getting it.
Soon the houses became sparse, and a gated clan compound with a red and white fan symbol came into view.
I was surprised when Kenji and Kaori remained silent as we entered the compound and kept running through the roofs. To my knowledge, this was their first time inside the Uchiha clan compound.
I looked at them, and they were indeed busy looking around as they ran.
It was beautiful here, like old Japanese noble homes all around.
When I had come here, I had been too nervous to really appreciate the sight.
"Faster," Fugaku shouted, and we once again concentrated on running.
We ran for quite a while before we entered a clearing surrounded by forest. It was huge. The training ground where we used to practice was tiny in comparison. Maybe ten such training fields could fit inside here.
There was a river flowing through, cutting the field in two parts. One part was larger than the other, and the river curved and flowed through the forest.
And the best part, if you followed the river upstream, beyond the forest, a mountain and waterfall were visible from where the river was flowing.
"Wow," Kenji voiced all our thoughts.
"Team, form a circle and sit down," Fugaku instructed.
Once we were done, he spoke up.
"Let me reintroduce myself. I am Fugaku Uchiha. I will be your team leader and sensei until you are promoted."
He paused, looking at each of us.
"Normally, graduating from the academy in itself is not enough for students to become Genin. The Jonin sensei tests the team or the individual and passes or fails them."
He started pacing in front of us.
"If you pass, you become Genin and that Jonin gets assigned to you. However, if you fail, you go to the Genin corps, where they train and test you until you are either suitable to join them or drop out."
He stopped and stared again at each of us.
"We will not be doing that. The moment your team was announced, you all became Genin and I your team leader."
He paused and asked, "Any questions up to this point?"
When none of us said anything, he continued.
"I have read your files and through them, I know your capabilities. But still, I will evaluate each of you, so if you know anything that you have not used in the academy, let me know."
With that, our evaluation started and lasted until late evening. He tested each of us separately, in all three aspects: Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu.
None of us knew any Genjutsu. When we informed him of that, his stoic face made a slight frown and he noted something in the file that he brought with him.
He kept writing in that file as the evaluation progressed. It was a very thorough one, and he had come prepared.
He had brought kunai and shuriken with him to test our weapon-throwing ability.
He had also brought chakra paper. While mine and Kaori's were already known, Kenji got excited for this. He turned out to have a fire affinity too.
Which shouldn't be surprising, as we were a ninja village inside the Fire Nation. There must have been some relation to that.
Anyway, our evaluation continued. Kaori showed her clan jutsu, and Kenji showed the Taijutsu reinforced with chakra. It was still incomplete but got a nod from Fugaku.
When I tried doing the Blue Fire jutsu, he stopped me.
"Are you going to faint after this?" he asked.
Which was actually a good question. I was already exhausted and had been using chakra throughout the day.
"I... am not sure, but it's likely," I answered honestly.
"Then you don't need to perform the jutsu. Instead, tell me if you have made any progress with it." He asked, and I had to explain how I had been practicing the Blue Fire jutsu and my disappointment with it, as I was still stuck at a maximum of one use.
He didn't say anything but kept writing in his file.
We went through tree walking and water walking too. I felt a bit proud when all three of us were able to perform effortlessly. I knew for a fact that in canon Team 7 learned it much later.
We again got a rare Fugaku nod of approval. There was something about a stoic face showing emotion that made it special.
Finally, our evaluation ended. It had gone dark, and lights illuminated the field.
"Good work today, team," Fugaku called out.
"This will be our official training ground. Meet me here tomorrow at 7 AM. Dismissed."
For the first time, I felt as if I was in the military. Which, actually was true. Ninja were military. Konoha was a military fort or village of the Fire Nation.
We just acted as mercenaries during peace times.
We backtracked the way we came in the morning. I didn't have any energy left, even to talk, and I felt both Kaori and Kenji were the same.
Thus the trio of us walked in silence through the Uchiha clan compound. At night, illuminated by lights and occasional decorative paper lanterns, it looked even more beautiful.
Occasionally I felt the stares of people watching us, but mostly we were ignored.
After a long time, we finally came out of the clan compound.
"Good evening, thank you for your hard work today," Kenji greeted the guards as we walked past them.
I stared at him, asking the unasked question.
"What? If we are to come daily, it will be good to have a good relationship with them," he replied.
He had a valid point, and it seemed like Kaori thought the same. We both stopped and turned around; the guards were still looking at us.
We bowed to them.
"Thank you for the hard work."
They looked a bit flustered as we started walking away.
"Are guards rotated out, or do they remain the same?" I asked Kaori.
"They are rotated out, at least in our clan," she answered.
At that, I again stared at Kenji, who immediately replied.
"Then we will greet the new ones too. Since they are on guard duty, they are probably elite ninjas of the Uchiha clan. Let's have a good relationship with them."
He... could be right. I sighed and left the topic at that.
I looked up at the clear sky. It was full of stars.
I was a Genin now.
Suddenly a thought popped up inside my head.
"Does it mean I can buy alcohol?"
I knew beer existed here. I had seen it in convenience stores.
Hmm, should I?
"So... What do you guys think about Fugaku-sensei? I know he is the Uchiha clan head but nothing more than that," Kenji suddenly asked.
I was still thinking about how to reply when Kaori spoke up.
"Kenji-kun, didn't you know?" she asked with a blank face.
"Know what?" Kenji was confused, and so was I.
Kaori smiled her evil smile.
"Satoru-kun here is a big fan of Fugaku-sensei," she said, her voice dripping with innocence.
"Really? Then he must be a capable and good person. I feel reassured," Kenji said, now smiling too.
I chose to remain silent.
From what I have seen of Fugaku till now, he was a calm person and didn't express much emotion. And the way he had handled the elders to what I knew of the future, he was definitely capable and... ambitious.
"I think we should be ready for hard days ahead. You saw how thorough our evaluation was. I think Fugaku-sensei is going to train us even more thoroughly," I spoke out loud.
I looked at them, and their smiles were gone as they realized the truth behind my statement.
I increased my pace. I wanted to hurry home and sleep.
Day 338
The next day, bright and early, we were back at the training ground, and Fugaku was already there.
"Good, you are on time," he said, greeting us.
"Good morning to you too, Sensei," I replied.
I was a bit grouchy. My body was aching everywhere, and I had to wake up early and run here because it was too far. I didn't even have breakfast.
I heard someone snicker behind me, but I didn't care.
Fugaku, showing his maturity, chose not to reply.
Though I think I saw his eyebrow twitch.
"Form a half-circle and sit down," he instructed.
He passed a scroll to each one of us.
"Based on yesterday's evaluation, I have mapped out the next steps for your growth. But before I explain the content of your scroll, I will explain how our team will function going forward."
His gaze swept over us before he spoke up.
"As you already know, I am the clan head. I am also the head of KMPF (Konoha Military Police Force). This means that I cannot supervise your training daily. Thus, these scrolls. I will, however, make sure to be present here at least once a week." He paused and then asked, looking at us.
"Any questions?"
I hesitantly raised a hand. I was grateful that I continued to receive the Uchiha stipend, but I was still curious about how we would go about doing missions, especially with him being busy.
"Satoru, go ahead."
"Sensei, what about missions? How will that work for us?"
He nodded at me and spoke.
"That was the next thing I had planned to tell you about. Since there are no other questions so far, let's move on to that."
Saying that, he started pacing in front of us. He did that yesterday too, and suddenly I felt the urge to straighten and be at attention.
"Normally, after a few days of team training, a newly graduated Genin team will start taking on D-rank missions. These include painting fences, mowing lawns, or shopping for the elderly. Basically, simple requests by civilians in Konoha."
He stopped his pacing and looked at us.
"We will not be doing that. Due to our... unique circumstances, I consulted with Hokage-sama, and we came up with a solution—another way for our team to go through missions."
"Once I am satisfied with your progress, you will start helping me with tasks at KMPF. Each task you complete as a team will be marked as a successful D-rank mission."
"Any questions?"
This time all three of us raised our hands.
Did he just sigh right now?
"One person at a time. Kenji, go ahead."
"Umm... Yes. What type of cases will we be doing? Will we investigate murders? Kidnappings?" Kenji's eyes were sparkling.
"No. We will start by patrolling Konoha streets and, at most, will need to break up a fight or two."
Listening to that, Kenji's face dropped like he lost something precious. Fugaku noticed the same.
"Later... depending on your performance, we can work on some cases too," he added after looking at Kenji.
"Yes!" Kenji shouted suddenly, his face immediately brightening up.
Maybe he should give acting a chance. He might have some talent.
Fugaku sighed again, this time openly.
I was starting to feel bad for the man. He must be really busy with clan and police tasks.
Still, he was here earlier than us and, looking at the scroll in my hand, came prepared.
I felt bad for my earlier behavior towards him.
"Kaori, next. Go ahead," Fugaku continued.
"Sensei, what about higher-rank missions? When will we be able to do those?" she asked.
"A genin team generally has their first C-rank mission six to eight months after graduation. Some take even longer. Any mission higher than that is for Chunins or above," he replied.
"Once I am satisfied with your progress as individuals and as a team, we will take a C-rank mission like other teams do. There will be no change in that," he finished.
Seeing Kaori nod, he turned to me, but I quickly shook my head.
"No questions from me, Sensei. Kenji and Kaori already asked what I was about to."
"Good. Let's move on to the scrolls then." He sat down this time.
"The contents of each of your scrolls are unique and tailored to the individual. I have listed exercises and targets that you need to achieve in them. I have also included detailed info on what you will be learning next." He paused before speaking again.
"I will, of course, be supervising you initially when you start new jutsus or exercises, but after that, you will need to work on them in my absence. As stated earlier, I will be meeting you guys weekly once. Let's make that day Friday. I will evaluate you and answer any questions that day."
Kenji raised his hand, and Fugaku stopped to let him ask the question.
"Sensei, what about days off?"
Fugaku nodded and spoke.
"It will depend on you. If you want to take two days off... more, less... whatever works for you."
Seeing Kenji's confused expression, he sighed before speaking gently.
"Look..."
"You are Genins now. You are considered adults in the village's eyes. I want to treat you the same. I will respect your decisions as long as you have thought thoroughly about them and are being serious."
"Any more questions?... No? Then let's do some warmup and we can start with the jutsu."
Fugaku taught each of us the new jutsu or exercise mentioned in the scroll and made us practice in front of him while he gave feedback.
He was with us till noon, after which he left us with a warning to practice diligently and that he would check on Friday.
We took a break to eat lunch. We found a good restaurant inside the Uchiha clan compound and ate with deep hunger.
I found out that even Kaori and Kenji didn't have their breakfast today.
After lunch, we returned to the field and continued our practice.
For Kenji, he was learning Shunshin no jutsu (Teleportation Jutsu). He needed to gather chakra in his feet and release it explosively to move at a blindingly fast speed.
It would pair nicely with what he was already experimenting with his taijutsu.
For Kaori, Fugaku had planned to teach an earth jutsu, but that was put on hold when she told him about the Genjutsu she was learning from her parents.
After making her perform the Genjutsu, he gave her feedback and told her to continue practicing it.
I was a bit confused about how she could learn Genjutsu by herself. So I asked her. She told me that the Genjutsu was called Narakumi no jutsu (Death Mirage Jutsu) and that after successfully casting this Genjutsu, both she and her opponent would see illusions that Kaori would create and control.
That sounded quite good and terrifying at the same time. I firmly refused her when she asked me to 'try it.' She was secretly a sadist; I no longer held any doubts.
I shook my head to move away from those disturbing thoughts and concentrated on what I was doing.
Fugaku had chosen to start me with nature transformation, and thus I was stuck trying to burn the leaf between my hands.
It was tiring, and whenever I felt my chakra become low, I would move on to doing physical exercises that Fugaku had mentioned in the scroll.
The scroll was really quite detailed on instructions and goals, down to how many push-ups I should do and by how many repetitions I should increase it daily.
Thus, we kept on training, and slowly night came around, and we finally stopped for the day. I felt exhausted beyond anything.
I was used to training in the morning and evening, which combined made up four, maximum five hours of training. But that was it. Moreover, I had the academy, which used to serve as a break between my morning and evening exercises.
However, today I had been training since 7 AM, and it was 8 PM now. Even if you remove three hours for lunch break and Fugaku's lecture in the beginning, that was still ten hours. And I needed to do this every day.
Depressed and tired, I met up with the group as we started walking back to our respective homes.
Of course, I forgot to add going back and forth between the training ground and home; that was an exercise in itself.
We walked in silence, occasionally making small talk if we saw something new in the Uchiha compound.
We again greeted the guards at the compound gate; they were different from the morning or the previous evening.
After receiving stares from the Uchiha clan guards and a very long walk, I finally reached home.
I quickly went through my night routine, and once I was done with dinner and laying on my bed, my mind started thinking of the days ahead.
So this is the life of a ninja. Lots of training until you get a mission, and if you survive, then again lots of training before your next mission.
Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.
Hmm...
Before I could think further, I fell asleep.
A/N: Please comment/review, would love to hear from readers.
Also please visit pat^re^on / johnblack6826 for next three advanced chapters