Kakashi sat at the bar, half an eye on his book and half of it on the crowd, as he waited for his target.
When she walked in, every male and most of the females immediately noticed. In a world of blacks and dark tones, her penchant for white bandages and red trim made her stand out like a lightning bolt on the plains, and her unnaturally red eyes marked her as something unusual. Because of her rather unique look, and her fairly recent promotion to jonin, many of the members of the Konoha shinobi forces still viewed her with at least a little doubt.
And if anyone knew the value of underestimation, it was Kakashi. He knew the woman had a fine and devious mind behind the flashy look, perfect for a illusion master like Yuhi Kurenai. He waved her over to his table, and waved once at the server as well. Much like police officers, bikers, and miners, shinobi tended to have a certain taste for alcohol and for the places they drank it. Kakashi had yet to see a shinobi bar that did not have an aura of serious people doing serious business with serious drinks. No fruity umbrellas and cherries on sticks. No fancy menus with humorously named cocktails that cost more than a meal. Sake, and lots of it, or whiskey, and lots of it if you had a taste for it. The server arrived with a bottle of sake and two cups, bowed, and left quietly to let them get on with their business. Kakashi pulled the privacy curtain shut, hiding their faces from view, then nodded to his visitor.
"Kakashi-san," said Kurenai, as he poured a cup for Kurenai. "You mentioned in your note that you had a proposition for my students and myself, I believe." Kakashi nodded and set the bottle down. He felt slight amusement when she did not immediately pick it up, but remained focused entirely on him. Taking this serious, he thought. Good.
"I'll start by asking a question, to see if you noticed the same thing I have. You know that Hyuga Hinata has a habit of watching Uzumaki Naruto when he trains sometimes?" Kurenai nodded, and her eyes narrowed. "Relax," he said, raising one hand in peace, "I see nothing wrong with this. In truth, I see an opportunity. Your squad is slated to be a tracking squad, yes?"
She nodded, and her expression eased into a more neutral look. "Yes. All three of them are natural trackers. Hyuga Hinata has the Byakugan, allowing her to see her immediate surroundings. Inuzuka Kiba has a strong sense of smell and hearing, allowing him to follow at a distance. And Aburame Shino can use his insects to mark targets and track them at nearly any range. It was decided they would become a go-to team for observation and tracking in the future."
Kakashi nodded. "And how are they doing?"
She huffed. "Poorly. Shino is well trained by his clan and is fairly well rounded, but he is remarkably quiet and not endearing himself to the team. Kiba is energetic, but he tends to lead with his face and it's going to get him killed some day if he faces a remotely competent foe. And Hinata..." She turned a glare at Kakashi.
"What?" he asked.
"You have a habit of speaking out of turn. I want you to swear, on the names on the memorial, that you won't say a word of this."
That's not a good sign. Kurenai was not terribly close to him, but she knew him, and knew of him, enough to know that such an oath would be a very serious one for Kakashi. He joked and played around plenty, but he did not do so when it came to his former teammates... or his sensei. Kakashi agreed after a moment's thought and mentally braced himself for what must be terrible news.
"Hinata should not be a shinobi. Not yet, and maybe not ever." Kurenai sat a little stiffer in her seat and glared at the table. "She is so terrified of doing poorly, she fails to even try. I know she has the technique, but I can't get her to so much as punch her teammates. And every time I try to encourage her inner strength, her self doubt immediately sets in and kills any gain she might have made. I've watched it happen, so clear on her face that it is unmistakable." She looked to one side, in the direction of the wall, and silently mouthed the words, Damned Clans, and Kakashi understood the meaning, and her roundabout way of saying it. Clans in Konohagakure had a great deal of political power, as well as certain rights to control and command their members. Kurenai could do very little to help Hinata if the girl simply returned each day to the place that tore her self esteem to shreds.
Kakashi grinned, and poured some sake in the second cup and slid it across the table. Sure, it's bad, he thought, but not nearly as bad as I feared. Really, no worse than my own students. In the past week, Kakashi had begun training his students in tree climbing and physical fitness, and all of his own students had flaws he was having trouble working through.
Sasuke often became socially distant. He managed to become civil, and he even smiled at some points, but the moment Naruto or Sakura irritated him, he would return to his cold personality. He did not respect either of his teammates, and assumed he was stronger and deserved more attention and training from Kakashi.
Sakura was a fangirl, and it showed in her training. While she excelled at the tree climbing exercise, when it came time for the physical fitness, she refused to work any more than was required, and would quit whenever she began to work up a sweat. Based on how she kept glancing at Sasuke, Kakashi suspected she was worried about the boy seeing her in an unladylike condition. Kakashi had considered bringing in the rather independent Kurenai to supervise a session and break the girl out of that little habit, even before he thought of this proposition he had.
And Naruto... Naruto was a good kid, and a hard worker, but between chakra control problems caused by the fox sealed in his gut and his own impatient, somewhat brash personality, he was a trial to train. Kakashi knew about the Shadow Clone technique, and was familiar with how it could be used to speed training, but unless he had a good excuse to bring it up, he was worried that Sasuke would get angry about the special instructions, or worse, kill himself trying to use the same technique.
But Kakashi had figured out a way to bypass all of these problems... with a little mutual help.
"How would you like to solve all of your problems, and get a reputation for thinking outside the box at the same time?"
Kurenai looked at him for a moment, then smiled slightly and picked up the sake bottle to pour him a drink in return. "Let's hear this."
Team 7 and Team 8 met at Training Ground Three within minutes of finishing their D-ranks, and started discussing the day and their missions in a friendly manner. "I'm telling you," said Kiba, gesticulating wildly as he told the story, "that friggen cat must be a ninja under an animal henge or something. It ran up the wall when I cornered it!" On his head, his dog Akakmaru yapped in agreement. The boy wore a thick grey coat in spite of the warm afternoon sun, and his tousled and uncombed hair gave the impression of someone who never bothered to look in a mirror unless required to.
Hinata tapped her fingers together nervously before interrupting, quietly pointing out that the wall in question was only a few feet high, before ducking her head slightly as if she was trying to hide under her short-cut blue hair. When Kiba turned to disagree, Shino piped up and went into a convoluted discourse on the natural agility of cats, and in spite of the tall collar of his jacket, the sunglasses that concealed his eyes, and the dull monotone he always spoke with, he still gave an impression of slight mockery to all those who were listening, including Kiba, who started to shout.
Naruto could not help himself. He laughed himself hoarse. He had come to realize that in spite of his generally being an outcast at school, he had missed having people around, and even if everyone but Hinata scoffed when he shouted about becoming the Hokage, they were still friends. Maybe not deep friends, but friends.
Sakura, however, was less than amused, because neither of their teachers had returned from their errands, and she found that Sasuke seemed even more distant when there were more people around. He had been staring into the surrounding woods for the last five minutes, and while she had suspected at first that he was looking for Kakashi, she was beginning to wonder if he was doing it just to avoid taking part in the conversation. She opened her mouth to ask him for training advice away from the others, in the hopes he might relax a little with fewer people, when a cloud of smoke exploded into being next to the group to reveal both of their wayward sensei. Kurenai had a clipboard and a thick pile of paperwork, while Kakashi carried nothing but his habitual book.
"Sorry, sorry," he said with a wave, "I passed a man with no feet who was trying to sell his old shoes, and..."
"Lies," shouted Sakura, Naruto, and Kiba, all three pointing at him. Kurenai smirked, and Hinata managed a tiny laugh. Sasuke and Shino both shared a glance and ignored the whole thing.
"Right," said Kurenai, stepping forward. "Sorry, but we had to double check a few things with the Hokage before we officially tried this." She indicated everyone to gather around, and when Sasuke made no move to join them, glared at him until he complied. "As you may know," she began, "each genin is placed in a three-person squad, and they generally train and do missions together exclusively. This is to encourage teamwork, and help ensure each member is familiar with the other. For the most part, genin remain in their squads in the future, barring problems or emergencies."
She pointed at Kakashi with her clipboard, and he waved lazily without taking his eyes off of his book. "Kakashi and I have noticed a few ways in which having Teams 7 and 8 train together might help both become stronger, much faster than would otherwise be likely. We have gotten permission to test this idea from the Hokage.
"Each day, we will continue to train with our normal teams in the morning, then perform our D-ranks after lunch. Once finished, however, in the time that would usually be spent doing individual training, we will instead train together. You will each receive a sparring partner who will be well suited to your needs as a growing shinobi."
Kakashi snapped his book shut and stood from his slouched position to say his bit. "All of you, first and foremost, need taijutsu training, so it is here that we shall start. Shino, Sasuke, you are both proficient already, so you'll be paired up. Work together to practice what you know and try to work on your speed." The two boys looked at each other and nodded, and at least to a small degree, they were relieved to have such a serious and strong opponent.
"Sakura, Kiba." Both stood a little straighter. "Both of you hold each other's weaknesses as strengths. Kiba, you tend to attack head on, full strength, with little in the way of technique." Kiba's lip rose slightly in a snarl, but he did not disagree, and after Akamaru yapped his agreement, Kiba snorted to one side and nodded. "Sakura, you have the basis for great technique, but you never push yourself physically, and against someone strong like Kiba, you'll need every ounce of strength you have. I suspect Kiba will thrash you soundly at first, so don't get discouraged. Take advantage of it, and become stronger." Sakura nodded and while her face looked worried, her eyes sparked with a touch of inner fire. "Given enough time and strength, your superior technique will turn the tables on him." Kiba's eyes nearly glowed with quiet fury, and Kakashi smiled under his mask. That should get them sorted in good time.
Hinata tapped her fingers and kept glancing over at Naruto, her face starting to warm up. This means...
Even her thoughts froze suddenly when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah," shouted Naruto, throwing his other fist in the air. "That means it's you and me, Hinata-chan! Let's get physical!"
Hinata's face glowed red for a brief moment, before she let out a little sigh and slumped forward. "Ehh," said Naruto, confused. "Hi-na-ta? You ok?"
Everyone facepalmed. Even Shino. Even Sasuke. Even the ANBU in the trees watching over this experiment. And especially Kakashi.
"What?" Naruto asked, sheepishly.
Hinata woke to find herself laying on the ground with a orange jacket for a pillow and Kakashi watching over her. She stiffened and sat up. "Ka... Kakashi-sensei, S-sorry, I didn't..."
Kakashi interrupted with a wave of his hand. "It's okay, Hinata. This is why you and Naruto are paired up." He nodded at the training ground. In the distance, Sasuke and Shino seemed to be trading blows in an elaborate game of strikes, blocks, and counter-strikes, with almost no footwork involved. Kiba was charging at Sakura, and Hinata was shocked when the pink-haired girl managed to grab Kiba's wrist in passing and send him tumbling. Kurenai was watching them all fight, occasionally shouting out advice to Sakura or Kiba when she saw a glaring problem.
And Naruto was fighting... himself. He had a half dozen clones out, and they had apparently split into two teams for what looked like a spirited game of Dodge Shuriken. Team Naruto seemed to be winning, but then, Team Naruto was also losing, and none of them seemed to really know who was on which team, so it ultimately came down to a free-for-all, and the Narutos were chattering loudly and cheerfully as they fought.
"Naruto has one great advantage over the others, in that he has the Shadow Clone jutsu and the chakra reserves to make it almost effortless. The clones are solid enough to fight, but fall in a single blow. We chose him as your opponent for two reasons. First, you can go all out against a clone, and not hurt him in the least. Your Gentle Fist is intended to be painful and debilitating, making it dangerous to practice at full force. But here is a foe you can use it against without fear. Meanwhile, Naruto is unpredictable and quick to think, but he is not particularly fast or skilled, and using his clones, I hope to fix both of those problems by pitting him against someone that has both those traits."
"Understood," she said, quietly, doubtfully. Kakashi could see exactly what Kurenai had been talking about as his compliment was immediately smothered by doubt. No matter, he thought, we'll see what we can do about that. Kakashi was not above manipulating someone for their own good, and Hinata had a big and obvious button he could push to help her resist that self doubt.
Kakashi leaned down and looked her in the face. "The other reason," he said, very quietly, "is Naruto is an inspiring person. He never quits, never backs down, and fights with all of his strength. You could do much worse, learning that sort of thing from him, and he could certainly use a dash of quiet contemplation, believe me."
She nodded, too nervous, and excited, and nervous, and worried, and nervous, for words, as Naruto's sensei exactly described all the traits she valued in Naruto.
"Also, you two would be cute together, if you can get the fainting under control."
Naruto looked over at Kakashi when the last of his clones popped. "She awake yet, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Give her a few more minutes, Naruto," he shouted back cheerfully from where she had once again passed out.
"Awwww, man," said Naruto, summoning another set of clones.
Eventually, Kakashi led the still red-tinted Hinata over to Naruto. He tossed the kid's jacket back to him, then said, "Naruto, make a few clones, please."
Naruto pulled on his jacket and summoned a half dozen shadow clones.
Kakashi wandered over to stand next to Naruto. "Ok, before we really begin, put this on." He handed Naruto a strip of cloth and pointed at his own eye. "Blindfold yourself." Naruto grumbled and complied.
"Remember," said Kakashi, "This won't hurt at all, so give it your best, Hinata."
"Yeah, Hinata, kick my ass," Naruto cheered, causing her to blush and Kakashi to shake his head and chuckle. Kakashi used hand signs to indicate one of the clones to attack quietly. There was a swish of cloth as the clone charged. I can do this, he wants me to hit his clone, he won't be hurt.Hinata chanted those words in her head as the clone approached. Just as it came within reach, she stepped lightly to the side, almost casually sidestepping its wild punch, and tagged it hard with a juken strike to the chest.
It vanished with a poof. Naruto cheered for her, and her heart beat hard as she silently cheered for herself as well. I can do this, she thought, and the sheer energy and relief she felt at such a thought was almost overwhelming.
Kakashi nodded to her, then turned to Naruto. "How did she win, Naruto?"
"She punched me in the chest," said the blindfolded blond.
Kakashi waited for the penny to drop, and was not disappointed when it did. "Wait," shouted Naruto, ripping off the cloth around his eyes and staring at the two of them, "how did I see that?"
"What do you think?" asked Kakashi.
Naruto paused to consider, then raised his index finger. "Of course!" Kakashi nodded, waiting for him.
"I have the Byakugan!"
Kakashi and Hinata shared a look. The look was quiet and small and polite and clearly communicated the shared belief that, wonderful as a person Naruto was, he was also, at times, an complete and total idiot.
"I... I don't think that's what happened, Naruto-kun."
"Naruto, what happened was you saw the greatest strength of the Shadow Clone jutsu. Whatever your clone sees or does, you will see as well. Shadow clones make excellent spies, can help you study, and can even help you train in almost anything but physical conditioning, even new jutsu." At that point, Naruto was almost drooling at the prospect of mastering jutsu with hundreds of clones. There's the bait, thought Kakashi. And now the hook. "Good thing you have it, because you'll need it to make up for how terrible your skills are."
Naruto's jaw dropped, and Kakashi continued talking in the hopes of forestalling the coming storm of complaints. "When your clone attacked Hinata, she didn't even have to try and stop you. In one move, she delivered what would have been a lethal hit. She trounced you with casual ease, and while it speaks well of her training, it speaks poorly of yours."
"I can't help that Hinata-chan's awesome," Naruto muttered to the side, indirectly earning the gratitude of both her and his teacher.
"In any case, to get you used to using this tool, your goal is to watch Hinata and your clones fight. Each time a clone goes down, you will immediately signal the next to attack. You, meanwhile, will sort their memories and your own outside observation and try to find a weak point in her technique to land a hit."
He started to walk away, then stopped and turned back to them. "Once you manage to land three hits in a row on Hinata, I'll teach you something new to practice. Don't make it too easy on him, Hinata, you could use the conditioning according to Kurenai, and I know Naruto respects hard work more than anything in the world." He turned away and walked towards the fight between Shino and Sasuke, waving over his back. Three for three, he thought, and with a small giggle, he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. Given another ten years, maybe Jiraiya could use this for his next book...
EDIT: Thanks to Pom Rania, who has now gone over this chapter in an effort to finally stamp out the early installment weirdness *GLUG*
Author's Note: Next chapter, we deal with the aftermath of this new training and how the others change accordingly. All of them will gain something out of it, and will get their own focus-time, but this was set up for the training, and Naruto and Hinata's efforts needed some exposition ahead of time.
As you can see, I am trying to invoke the slightly jokey, occasionally pratfall-prone sense of fun and adventure that the earlier series had. Sometimes it's hard to remember, but at one point, the show/manga was not nearly so dark as it got at times near the end.
a Wiccan pointed out that ryo has a real world value in yen. While this is true in the real world, the sum matches up poorly to prices in-universe from my view. Rather than try to deconstruct an economic system, I set a rough value of 10 ryo for a bit of pocket candy such as a child might beg their parent for, in an entirely arbitrary manner. In the end, it's just easier to deal with.
Okiro Benihime mentioned power levels. In short, power levels for the very end of the series (roughly everyone on a higher level than Pein) will probably get tamped down slightly, for reasons that I may expound upon later. Frankly, ridiculous, super-powerful ubermoves make for rather dull fights in writing, for the most part. You can only summon a literal moon to smash people with so many times before it becomes ludicrous. I prefer the thoughtful move/countermove pace of early fights over the "HOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHPOWAAAAAAA" of much of the ending arcs. All this, of course, is subject to opinion, and that is mine.