Chapter 5: Team Ten
Night had falling, and Naruto found himself sitting in a field of grass embraced in a pair of arms watching the full moon shine over a lake. Silence had long since fallen over on the two, and in it Naruto had began to fantasize. Of a life containing more.
"What's on your mind?" The person holding him called out. Snuggling deeper into her arms, Naruto closed his eyes and began to drift to sleep.
"Nothing much." Naruto mumbled. The person laughed.
"You know, you were born on a night like this." They said. "I remember it like it was yesterday. Your father almost couldn't contain himself the whole day. He was even more nervous than when he was inaugurated as the Fourth Hokage."
"Inaugurated?" Naruto questioned. His words were once again meet with the sound of laughter.
"Unfortunately you've seemed to inherited most of your traits from me. Smart's included," The woman spoke out. She began to hold him tighter. "It seems he was right. 'I bet he's going to turn out just like you, Kushina-chan' he said once."
"Do you think I'll be a great shinobi like him one day?" Naruto asked. He felt a drop of rain hit his cheeks, yet no clouds were in sight of the clear skies before them.
"You'll be even greater."
"Earth to Naruto, you still with us?"
Breaking free from his thoughts, Naruto looked over as Shikamaru stared at him with his signature bored expression. "Choji asked you something."
"You've been spacing out a lot lately. That crazy training routine of yours hasn't finally given you brain damage, has it?" Kiba asked sarcastically. From his hood, a small white dog poked its head out, barking for extra support.
"Sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night. Maybe it was the full moon?" Naruto replied.
"Yeah, Akamaru gets pretty excited during that time too. I feel ya' there." Kiba said nodding his head. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, turning to his bestfriend.
"Go ahead, Choji."
"I just asked how were you finally feeling about being a genin. After all, you're one of the ones that essentially passed a year ago. It must of felt unfair." Choji said, opening a bag of chips. He offered one, which Naruto gladly accepted.
"I honestly haven't thought too much about it. After all, Iruka-sensei explained the reasoning for waiting pretty well. There's not a serious need for more genin right now. I'd rather graduate with the rest of you guys anyways." Naruto replied.
"Can you believe only nine of us actually made it? I hear the requirements were much stricker this year. No thanks to you three, I bet." Kiba said, jabbing Naruto in the ribs. " 'The Prodigal Trio'. That's what they're calling you guys."
"I understand it for Hinata and Sasuke's case. Reluctantly for the later," Shikamaru said. "But you? I'm sorry, but knowing you personally has kind of taking away some of the allure."
"Hey! I'm awesome!" Naruto yelled out defiantly, with Choji agreeing from the side. Kiba laughed at Shikamaru's taunt.
"Ya' know, he's got a point. When you first arrived, I was expecting a Sasuke two point-O. You're entirely different though." Kiba added.
"You guys sure love mentioning Sasuke a lot. Maybe you'd be better off hanging with Ino and Sakura-chan." Naruto grumbled as they reached the Academy gates.
"What was that, shorty?"
Turning the corner, they were greeted with the sight of said girls, with Ino walking forward and sticking her face close to Naruto's, hands on her hips angrily. "Care to repeat that?"
"No." Naruto replied, lifting his hands up in surrender. Smiling, Ino backed away and retuned to Sakura, heading inside the Academy.
"Good boy." She remarked. Sakura gave a nervous smile and bow, turning as the group of boys followed after them. Entering the classroom, they saw that they were the last to arrive. Looking up, Iruka's face fell into disappointment as they all entered.
"Late on your first day as official shinobi. Quite the impression to leave on." He said. "Take your seats. We'll be beginning shortly.
With a majority of their usual classmates absent, the room was practically open. Settling on the higher middle section, Naruto found himself only a few seats away from Hinata. Sitting down, he flashed a smile her way.
"Great minds think alike, huh?" Naruto said, motioning to the headband hanging around his neck in a similar fashion to hers. Hinata scoffed, looking away with her arms folded, though a small blush adorned her face.
"I can't exactly argue, can I?" She answered. She was adorned in a black vest crop top, with bandages covering her abdomen and a matching set of black of cargo pants. Her hair, which had been grown to her mid back section, was in a ponytail and paired with bangs that framed her face. Her milky eyes met Naruto's cerulean ones. "You seem to be in bright spirits."
"I've been waiting on this day for two years. Being an official shinobi gives me access to way more resources than I had before. I'm gonna' get a lot stronger." Naruto said. Closing her eyes, Hinata turned to front of the class.
"Don't think I plan on falling behind, either."
Mitsuki, another one of the teachers at the academy, entered at that moment. He whispered something in Iruka's ear, who nodded at his words and turned to address the class.
"Hey, listen up! Usually, the end of the year graduates are given a farewell speech by the Hokage. Sadly, he's got other obligations currently, so we're going to go ahead and move on to team placements. Your sensei's will be coming to pick you up shortly, so you'll remain in the classroom until then. Any questions?" Iruka asked. Seeing as there were none, he took the list from Mitsuki, walking to the front of the class.
"You'll be divided into three man cells, which you'll typically remain in until you're promoted to chunin. I'll be starting now, so listen up closely. Team Seven will be...Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Kiba Inuzaka. Your sensei will Kakashi Hatake.
Sakura yelled out, jumping up from her seat with her fist in the air. Next to her, Ino deflated onto the table in disappointment. "It's just not fair..."
"Sasuke and Sakura..." Kiba mumbled out with animated tears streaming down his face. "This couldn't be any worse."
Naruto gave him a quick slug on the shoulder. "Cheer up, at least now you'll get all the chances in the world to prove how much better than Sasuke you are."
"You think you're a funny guy, don't ya'?" Kiba said irritably. Hinata shushed both as Iruka continued.
"Team Eight will be Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Choji Akimichi. Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi."
"Huh?" Shikamaru spoke out. "What the hell's going on?"
"Language, Shikamaru." Iruka spoke out. In the stands, Sakura looked over at Ino, who had sat up straight confused at the news as well.
"What's the big deal?" Sakura questioned.
"Me, Choji and Shikamaru's dads were all apart of a team. We were all but sure that they were going to put us on the same team together. If Choji's on Team Eight, then..." Ino trailed off.
"Team Nine is still in rotation, so Team Ten will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Naruto Uzumaki. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi."
Ino and Shikamaru were still clearly in shock. Naruto however seemed pretty unmoved by the announcement. Noticing his lack of reaction, Hinata decided to pry. "What do you think?"
"Can't really complain. Anyone would've do to be honest. You?" Naruto asked back.
"Same." Hinata said, turning back to the front of the class. Naruto smiled, always finding her social awkwardness rather endearing. Going over the list one more time, Iruka nodded before smiling up at his group of students.
"Well, it's been a pleasure teaching you all. I have no doubt you'll all be successful shinobi. I and your new teachers we'll be here to guide you, so don't hesitate to use us." He said, giving a warm smile. At that moment, the door to the classroom opened, and in came the first of the three Jonin.
Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi both entered at the same time. Kurenai spoke up first. "Team Eight, we'll be heading out."
"Good luck." Naruto said as Hinata walked by.
"Same to you, Naruto-kun." She said, giving a small smile. Her, Shino and Choji met Kurenai down at the floor, exchanging a small conversation before bidding their farewells. Turning to the classroom, it was now Asuma's turn.
"Team Ten, you're with me." He called out. Naruto stood up and made his way down, being the last of the group to make it. "Everybody ready? Let's go then."
Leading them out the classroom, he continued out of the Academy and into Konohagakure, with his three students silently following. "Not much for conversation, are you guys?"
"Where are you taking us?" Ino asked, noticing they were getting close the village's gates.
"We're heading to a training ground im rather fond of. It has an amazing view over a nearby lake. Especially at night." Asuma replied.
"Training ground twelve? It does have a great view, doesn't it?" Naruto asked, walking with both hands lackadaisically behind his head. "I love that place."
Asuma and Naruto shared a grin, while Ino and Shikamaru watched them both with synical looks. "Are we gonna' be ok?" Ino asked.
"Probably." Shikamaru replied back.
It was around a fifteen minute trek from Konoha's gates to the training ground, with Asuma absentmindedly listening to the trio's banter to pass the time. When they arrived, Asuma went to stand opposite from them with the water front behind.
"Well, per protocol this is where we should probably introduce ourselves. I have the feeling that if i'm actually stuck with you guys as genin, I'll end up knowing more about you than i'd ever hope to. So, we'll skip that." Asuma said, lighting a cigarette. Shikamaru's eyebrow rose.
"Well what if we want to know about you?" He asked. Asuma looked at him and smirked.
"Good question. Moving on, this will probably come as shock to you guys, but what if I said there was one more test you have to pass before you officially become genin?" Asuma said, ignoring Shikamaru's ire at being ignored himself.
"Another test? You've got to be kidding me..." Ino mumbled. "What's the point of a graduation then?"
"Another good question. Now, in terms of what the test will entail," Asuma said, watching as Naruto had to forcibly hold Ino back from attacking him. "I've been thinking about it since I heard you guys would be my potential team, and to be perfectly honestly, I only have doubts about two of you. Seeing as I still have to see where you all stand however, the best solution I came upon was for you guys to fight each other. Specifically, you two against Naruto."
"Us against Naruto? Doesn't that seem...a little unfair." Ino said from the side. Shikamaru agreed with her words silently while Naruto simply stood watch. "I mean, he's talented but against two other genin like us, he's clearly at a disadvantage."
"Is that so? Naruto, how do you feel about that?" Asuma asked, looking over at the boy.
"Makes no difference to me." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"This is stupid." Shikamaru mumbled out. "Are you sure you're taking this whole sensei thing seriously? It's starting to feel like a waste of time on our part."
"You two sure have some mouths on you, don't you? Am I taking this seriously? I could say the same about you." Asuma said, the nonchalant attitude now disappearing. "Ya' know, I don't think you two realize just how outclassed you are. You're gonna' be in for a rude awakening when you actually enter into the real shinobi world and realize everything you've experienced until now has been child's play. So, how about a reality check yeah?"
"Originally my plan was for you guys to have just a friendly spar, but that's out the window. Naruto, I want you to fight them all out. No holding back. And if you do, I'm sending your ass back to the academy as well. Expectations be damned." Asuma said. Naruto, for the first time, looked as if he wanted to protest Asuma's words. After a moment of thinking though, he nodded to confirm he was on board. "As for you two, at first I just wanted you to impress me. But that's not enough now. You've gotta' beat Naruto outright. No questions about it. If you don't, look forward to another year with Iruka."
"You really think that little of us?" Ino said, clearly ticked off. "Fine! Let's show him, Shikamaru! Naruto, get your butts out there!"
Smiling, Naruto nodded and made his way out to the training field with Ino and Shikamaru following. Staying to the side, Asuma watched as the group stood across from each other, waiting for everyone to get ready. "Remember what I said, Naruto. No holding back."
"I hear ya'." Naruto said, stretching out his body. Looking up, he could see that Ino and Shikamaru were gearing to go. "Alright guys, let's get started!"
"Shikamaru! On me!" Ino called out charging forward as Naruto readied himself. No fool, she was well aware that there was no way for her to beat him in hand to hand combat, possibly even with Shikamaru supporting her. However, Asuma told Naruto that he could go all out. She asssumed the same went for them.
Reaching in her pouch, she pulled out three miniature smoke bombs and tossed them at his feet. Vision obscured, Naruto looked around for any signs of movement. Seeing something out of the side of his eye, he dodged an attack from Ino and countered, only to find that it was a clone. Suddenly from behind his legs were kicked out from him, and he narrowly dodged another attack by rolling on the ground. Using his arms, he launched himself into the air and out of the smoke, finally able to see.
From it also emerged Ino, who launched two shuriken at him. Attached to them were a wire, and in an impressive showing of skill the two projectiles wrapped around his legs and entwined them together. With a yell, she yanked the boy back down to the ground, and from the other side of the smoke appeared Shikamaru. Jumping forward, he caught Naruto with a knee to the side and further propelled him to the ground, causing the boy crash into the dirt.
Taking it in stride, Naruto quickly produced a kunai and sliced the wire. Hooping to his feet, he could see Ino standing a few feet away from him. He was about to launch towards her when a shadow suddenly fell over him. Looking up, a ballon attached to a kunai floated just over his head. Cursing, he quickly jumped from underneath it, but from the shadow it produced came out three dark tendrils.
Latching onto his leg, it lifted the boy in the air before tossing him towards the lake. "Nice going, Shikamaru!" Ino called out in early celebration. Releasing him, they watched as the boy fell unceremoniously into the water below. Or so it seemed.
Twisting in the air, Naruto landed on his feet. Both Shikamaru and Ino's mouths dropped. Standing up, Naruto flashed the two a smile.
"He knows how to water walk. Of course he does." Shikamaru said with a sigh. Growling, Ino stomped her foot on the ground angrily and pointed at Naruto.
"Hey! Get back over here and fight us on fair ground!" She yelled out. Naruto's smile dropped into a more mischievous one.
"Okay." He called out. Coming full charge and kicking up waves behind him, Naruto covered the distance between the three quickly. Shikamaru attempted to put both arms up in defense, but Naruto was quicker and placed his hands between them, opening them up and following with an upper cut kick that sent the boy flying.
Pivoting on his remaining foot, Naruto was preparing to kick Ino in a similar fashion to the side when he saw the girl flinch. Gritting his teeth, in an acrobatic showing he instead leaped over her, grabbing her by her vest and flinging her into the lake, where her frantic yell was cut off by the splash of water upon impact. Landing, Naruto righted himself before releasing a relaxing sigh, clapping his hands to remove the dirt accumulated on them. To his right Shikamaru was lying on the ground groaning in pain. To his left, Ino resurfaced from the lake, face covered with her now soaking wet hair and coughing in attempt to clear her wind pipe. Asuma whistled.
"I think that'll do it. Bring it in, guys."
Coming to the shore, Ino held her arms out to the side as water dripped from her profusely. Asuma watched her amusedly, not flinching under her sharp glare. "Want some help?"
She didn't reply, but Asuma figured he'd lend a hand anyways. Performing a set of seals, he clapped his hands together. "Wind Release: Gale Palm Technique!"
From his clasping hands released a strong gush of wind, one that almost knocked Ino over from the force. It worked as a makeshift dryer however, at the very least drying the girl off enough that she wasn't soaking wet. Though now, much to her chagrin, her hair was a wild mess. "Gee, thanks."
"Don't mention it." Asuma replied. Naruto and Shikamaru had joined them, with the later rubbing the bottom of his chin in agony and still a little wobbly in the legs. "Well...that was about what I expected. How are the rest of you feeling?"
Shikamaru and Ino stayed silent, both ruminating in just how easily they were handed a lost. Naruto, looking between the both, turned back to Asuma and broke the silence.
"Personally, I think we'd be alright. I mean, I don't have the greatest grasp on some of the more technical things and techniques like these guys do, and I can handle more of the hand to hand matters if push comes to shove on their behalf. It's like a...balance thing, yeah?" Naruto said.
"That's a nice way to put it." Asuma replied. "Any words from you two?"
Another moment of silence fell over them. Reluctantly, Ino looked over at her blonde haired counterpart.
"I don't like the idea of you having to handle all the heavy work. Me and Shikamaru can pull our fair share too. Or at least, I thought..." She trailed off. "But...I have to do better. At this point, I'd just drag you down Naruto."
"Hey, I don't think that all! Say something, Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled at the boy. Shikamaru looked away while rubbing his neck, partially in annoyance and also embarrassment.
"She's right. We couldn't even last five minutes against you. It's almost sad." Shikamaru said. Naruto's face fell at his words, but Shikamaru continued. "Still, it honestly kind of pisses me off. I don't want things to end here."
"Me either." Ino said angrily, balling her fist. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes, forcing her to look at the ground to hide them from the others. Blowing out a cloud of smoke, Asuma smiled and ruffled the younger girl's hair.
"Seems like the message got across then. What I wanted you guys to realize was just how limited your viewpoint was just coming out of the academy. You had someone right under your noses that you didn't even know was that much more ahead, and it's because you've been following a set of strict guidelines that was meant to keep you all relative to each other for educational purposes." Asuma said. "Naruto's just a drop in the bucket, there's been jonin level shinobi younger than him from this very own village. From here on out, you're dealing with a whole new ballgame. And if you don't understand that, you won't have a very long life, let alone shinobi career."
Looking them over, he could tell his message had been heard. Clapping his hands together, he smiled at the three before continuing. "Don't look so down. Every shinobi learns this at some point. Just be glad you learned it here amongst your comrades than out in the line of battle. You guys will be fine though. I'm gonna' be teaching you, after all, so chins up. We'll be meeting here everyday starting next week from here on out unless I say different."
"Wait, does that mean?..." Ino asked, looking up in shock.
"Oh, yeah. Right. You pass. All of you. Welcome to the Konohagakure ops." Asuma said, waving over his shoulder as he turned to leave. Ino yelled out in happiness, instinctively latching onto Naruto in celebration, who tried to protest while sporting an embarrassed blush. Shikamaru, however, was still in disbelief.
"Wait, but Naruto wiped the floor with us. How'd we pass?"
"You guys were gonna' pass regardless as long as I liked you. And besides, Naruto technically would've failed by my standards too seeing as he held back." Asuma said, stopping and given the group a warm gaze. "Don't fret too much over the details. Take the time now to celebrate. You've earned it. Things are only gonna' get harder from here. Now if you'll excuse me, I have something to prepare for. Later."
Walking into the forestry before him, with a sigh Naruto flopped down to the ground, leaning back in his on hands. "I almost thought he was serious for a moment."
"It's gonna' take hours for me to fix this." Ino said, pulling at a strand of her hair disappointedly.
"Sorry, I kinda' had to think of that one on the fly." He said with a regretful look. Ino at first looked at him with ire, but with a sigh of her own she gave a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about it. I appreciate you for taking it easy on me, I figure Asuma-sensei was talking about that when he mentioned you holding back. You could've really did some damage there, I was completely unprepared." She said.
"Well, he didn't hold back on me that's for sure." Shikamaru said, still rubbing his now swollen chin. "Favoritism much?"
"He's more friends with you than he is with me, don't be a baby Shikamaru." Ino said with a scoff. At that moment, her face lit up with an idea. "Hey, how about we hold a celebration dinner! You know, since we're officially shinobi and all!"
"You just want to eat," Shikamaru said, dodging a swipe from her. "But I guess I'm on board. I wonder how Choji and the others faired with the test. Should I invite him?"
"He's on a team with Hinata-chan, so I'm sure he's fine. I'm more worried about Kiba, Sasuke and Sakura." Naruto said, looking up thoughtfully.
"Well then it's settled. I'll invite Sakura, Sasuke-kun and dog boy, while Shikamaru can handle Choji and Shino. Naruto, you can invite Hinata since you're practically the only one she ever speaks to." Ino said teasingly to the blushing boy. "We can meet at the new Barbecue place opening up, I always wanted to try it."
"So you did just want to eat after all. Not that i'm complaining." Shikamaru said, with a supporting nod from Naruto. Grinning, Ino held her hand up high before bringing it down infront of the boys.
"Alright then, it's settled. Here's to the official banding of Team Ten! Everybody in!" She said.
Matching her grin, Naruto placed his hand on top of hers, with both of them looking at Shikamaru to join. Reluctantly, he too put his hand in the pile, with all three sharing a look before launching them up into air.
"Yosh!"
this feels pretty short all things considered, but word count wise it's only shorter than the last one. Still, I didn't wanna leave you guys hanging for too long and now that we're out of team placements, i can finally start really playing around the story.
i say all that to say, rejoice my friends because we are not going to the land of waves (at least not now). I'll have an original idea for Team Ten's first mission.
the major story divergences start taking place here, so I hope you guys enjoy everything from here on out. thanks for all the favs and story subs so far, it means a lot!
also, if you guys have some recommendations for good fics send them in the PM's ! I haven't really read Naruto fanfiction since i was like a young teenager (think early 2010's for reference, i'm 24 lol) so i'd like some good ones to get me back in the game.
take care!