Team 8: by S'TarKan...Author of 8 Stories

[Pandora Green]

By popular demand I have acquired permission from the authors website. She has agreed to allow me to post her story for you all to enjoy. Have fun . Leave all comments in the comment forum that i will make for this story

Each chapter is broken down into several posts due to gaia's 50000 character post limitation.

Enjoy

~Rin  

[Pandora Green]

Disclaimer – I own nothing, mores the pity.
Team 8
Chapter One
It had been a long night and Yuuhi Kurenai was exhausted.
She'd gotten an early start that morning, so she could scout out the potential new genins at the academy. An unusual number of talented students were taking the test this year, probably enough for three full teams. That was why the sandaime asked her to take on a genin team.

She'd worked independently for almost ten years, ever since that incident. She wasn't happy about being forced to work in a team again, but when the Hokage asks, he doesn't necessarily have to say please.

The fact that Sarutobi did so made him even harder to refuse.

The old man was actually very considerate of her feelings. He knew that this would be opening old wounds, ever since that tragedy…

She ground her teeth to avoid the memory, but only a truly skilled shinobi would note any change of expression. Likewise, no one at the Academy could have detected her presence as she observed the students go through their routines. After the sandaime's 'request', she decided to utilize the remaining days to observe the students. This was unusual, as most sensei jonins simply waited for the team assignments to be made, trusting the academy instructors to construct well-balanced teams.
Kurenai was not most jonins.

Sarutobi had asked her to revive an old tactical concept, and lead a team of reconnaissance specialists. The last one had come to grief, but she didn't think the concept itself was flawed. What happened to Nomaru, Mattai, and Kobaru-sensei had been a tragic accident. At least that was what she told herself on her good days.

On her bad days, her thoughts were much darker. Sometimes they flirted with treason. Of a sort, anyway. If her suspicions were correct, she wasn't alone in such thoughts, just in failing to act on them.

However, she'd been having good days recently, so she occupied herself by watching the potential genins, unheard and unseen. The Inuzuka kid almost sensed her presence during recess when the wind unexpectedly shifted, but she'd been able to move before he could smell her.

Mostly she watched them talk and play. She noticed an unusual number of children from prominent shinobi families. Just like their parents, a Nara, a Yamanaka, and an Akimichi were all set to graduate together. If they all passed, there was little doubt they'd be placed on a team together.People liked to stick with what worked. It was just too bad for the boys that the Yamanaka girl looked to be an incredible shrew.

She saw a few prospects for a recon team. There was an Aburame kid who was so quiet the instructors tended to lose track of him. If he was any good with his bugs he'd be a resource for any team. She'd worked on occasion with a man who was probably this Shino boy's father. His 'little friends' always warned them of approaching enemies, giving them plenty of time to change position. The Inuzuka boy undoubtedly had a good nose like most of his family, as would his dog. He was a little loud, and a bit of a braggart though.

There was also a Hyuuga there, and Kurenai recognized the girl, Hinata, that she'd escorted to the academy years ago. She'd done a tour at the Academy while recovering from her wounds and preparing for the jonin exam.
She'd been dispatched to the Hyuuga compound in response to a request from the clan head, Hyuuga Hiashi. The man coldly informed her that his daughter was hopelessly weak and unable to master more than the basics of the Hyuuga gentle fist taijitsu style. It was hoped that she'd be of some use to the village as a shinobi if she was too weak to serve the family directly. The fact that he told her this in front of the silent girl sorely tested Kurenai's patience.

Of course, she expected no less from the leader of the white-eyed bastards. Aside from that silent girl, she'd never seen a member of that prestigious family that wasn't stuck up and arrogant. Well, Mattai wasn't like that, but it wasn't really the same. Remembering her old comrade always brought a pang, and she needed her concentration to focus on the quiet girl.
As if in reaction against the rest of her family's arrogance, the Hyuuga girl was still painfully shy and timid. She sat by herself and kept her head down so much it took Kurenai a while to confirm she actually had the Byakugan eyes her family was famed for. The only time the girl seemed to perk up at all was when the class troublemaker came tearing past, being chased by the Yamanaka girl and some pink-haired kunoichi-in-training that had to be a Haruno.

Kurenai was a genin fresh out of the academy when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. She and most of her friends were assigned to areas of the battlefield far from the worst of the fighting, which was probably the only reason any of them had survived that night. She didn't have any personal animosity against the child the fourth had sealed the demon fox into. It wasn't like the little gaki had asked for it.

Still, this Uzumaki Naruto seemed to be quite a handful. He was always pulling pranks, though never anything really mean or hurtful. Mostly he just seemed a little starved for attention. Unfortunately, that was something most of the academy instructors seemed unwilling to give him. To his credit, Umino Iruka seemed to be the least prejudiced of the lot: his irritation seemed to be focused more on the boy's poor study habits and hell-raising.
At least his antics were occasionally entertaining. He did show a lot of creativity in his mischief, and the reactions of those around him also gave Kurenai some insight into their personalities.

Unfortunately, it looked like his lack of focus had caught up with him that afternoon, during the genin exam. A fair number of his classmates ran out of the building afterward, proudly displaying their new Hitai-ite, but the blond haired boy just trudged over to the swings and sat there, the picture of dejection.

Kurenai was surprised to note that someone else was watching the boy as well. The Hyuuga girl stared at him from behind a post. She was obviously distraught - blushing and pushing her forefingers together in a nervous gesture. At the same time, the girl stood up straighter than Kurenai had ever seen her. She fidgeted behind the post, stepping out from behind it only to step back again without doing anything. From what Kurenai could see, the girl's cheeks were bright red.

The jonin smiled to herself as she slipped away. With no curse seal, the girl was obviously of the Hyuuga main family. For such a one to be attracted to a ruffian like the one who bore the kyuubi was an ineradicable smear on her family's honor.

Good for her.

The thought cheered Kurenai as she made her way to the Hokage's tower. The Sandaime and the new jonin sensei would be meeting with the academy instructors to go over the test results and decide how to split the new genins into effective teams.

It was nearly nightfall by the time all the jonins arrived, mostly due to Hatake Kakashi's chronic tardiness. She understood the reasons for his frequent diversions all too well, but that was not a good reason to make everyone wait for over an hour. Although she supposed the same could be said of her violent dislike of the Hyuuga clan.

The first bit of bad news was that only eight students had passed the genin test. That meant one team would be short a student, or they would be forming two four person teams. Kurenai wondered if she'd be let off the hook, but Sarutobi soon scuttled that hope. He said he didn't think the best of jonins could give four students sufficient attention for their development. The jonins sometimes whispered on drinking nights that the old man still blamed himself for Orochimaru's betrayal of Konoha. No sane person blamed the old man for his grown student's actions, but Kurenai knew quite well that guilt follows no logic but it's own.

No sooner had they settled that question and began wrangling over who would only have two genins than a messenger arrived. It seemed that someone had broken into the Sandaime's quarters and made off with a scroll of forbidden jutsus. No one was sure who had done it, but Uzumaki Naruto had been seen in the vicinity just before the break-in was noticed.
Umino Iruka went pale as a ghost when he heard this news, confirming to Kurenai's eye that the man did care something about the unwanted child. He immediately rushed out to join the search for the boy.
"How did Naruto do in the examination?" the Sandaime asked one of the academy record-keepers.
"He did not pass, Hokage-sama," the man asked without even checking his scroll.
"If he was able to break into the Hokage's office and make off with a heavily guarded scroll… it makes me wonder how hard that test is," Asuma grumbled sourly. He'd been forbidden to smoke inside and Kurenai was sure he was suffering from lack of nicotine.
Sarutobi seemed unusually unconcerned about the missing scroll, so after he went up to his office they instead sat around discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the genins as they looked through the reports. It seemed a little odd to do this when neither of the senior instructors were present.
Kakashi volunteered to oversee the training of the Uchiha survivor, which made sense given his use of a sharingan eye. He also was willing to only have two students. This was presumably so he could devote more time to Uchiha Sasuke, but Kurenai wondered how much of that was just laziness. It seemed to her that the more skilled the ninja, the more eccentric their personal habits became. It also made her wonder if her own ambitions to improve her skills would become ultimately self-destructive. The copy-cat ninja was feared throughout the ninja world, but he was also squirrelly as hell with his chronic tardiness and perverted reading material.
In fact his fingers were reaching for the corner of a brightly colored book protruding from his flak vest when Sarutobi led Iruka back into the room, the latter missing his hitai-ite.
"It looks like we have a ninth graduate," the chuunin gasped after sitting down. He looked like he'd been in a nasty brawl – he was covered with cuts and scrapes, including a really large gouge in the middle of his back.
"What happened, Iruka?" Maybe it was Kurenai's imagination, but the slight smile the Hokage wore indicated he knew more than he let on.
"It was Mizuki that betrayed us, Hokage-sama. When Naruto couldn't produce a good bunshin, he failed the jutsu portion of the exam. Mizuki told him that stealing the scroll and bringing it to him would count as extra credit and allow him to still pass the exam."
"He fell for that?" Kakashi asked in surprise. "And we're considering making him a ninja why?
"If students cannot trust their sensei, who can they trust?" Iruka asked stiffly. "We cannot punish him for listening to a teacher, can we?" He turned toward the Hokage with the last question.
The Sandaime nodded gravely. "I agree. If we cannot guarantee the loyalty of the people who teach our children, we cannot blame them for doing no better than we." He looked at Iruka for a second. "What happened to your forehead protector?"
Umino Iruka smiled proudly. "I gave it to Naruto for passing the exam. He'd failed to produce a simple bunshin, but when he was defending me from Mizuki's attacks he revealed that he'd learned Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and filled that whole section of the forest with clones. I literally lost count."
"But Kage Bunshin is much harder to perform!" Asuma protested.
Iruka shrugged happily. "That's why I passed him. He's quite surprising."
"Well then, it looks like we have three full size teams now," Sarutobi said with a faint smile. Most of the jonins knew he sympathized with the boy's lack of family. "Kakashi, if you will take Naruto, that will-"
"Your pardon, Hokage-sama," Kurenai broke in. She'd been thinking about the Hyuuga girl. With her bloodline, she had tremendous potential, but her confidence issues were worrisome. Now she saw a possible way around them. "I wouldn't mind having Naruto on my team."
"Are you sure of that?" Sarutobi asked. She also saw Asuma and some of the academy workers quietly shaking their heads. "I understand your team is to specialize in reconnaissance missions, and Naruto doesn't show a lot of potential in that area."
"Or any other," she thought she saw one of the record keepers mouth to his co-worker. Iruka shifted painfully in his seat to glare at them.
"After what happened to my genin team," she said coolly, "I'd prefer that my new team not be overly specialized. If they fall into a trap," she continued, giving the last word a slightly sarcastic emphasis that made the Sandaime wince, "it would do well to have someone with the ability to get us out of a perilous situation. A genin capable of filling the woods with kage bunshin would be able to provide quite a distraction, wouldn't he? Besides, I also seem to remember a large number of chuunins, jonins, and ANBU pursuing that boy after he decorated the Hokage monument. He led you on quite a chase, didn't he?"
Several faces in the room looked a bit sheepish after that. Iruka, on the other hand, appeared happy that someone was recognizing his pupil's abilities. Of course, he was also the one who eventually caught the boy.
She turned toward Kakashi. "Kiba is passable with his taijitsu, but he also spends a lot of time working with Akamaru. They work well together and might give your students an example of the teamwork you seem to prize. Psychologically, the Inuzuka boy is like most of his family and very pack, er, group-oriented. He's a little boisterous, but friendly enough he might be able to thaw out that Uchiha headcase."
Kurenai noticed that everyone in the room was staring at her. She sighed. "When I was selected to mentor a genin team, I decided to spend a few days observing them interact and getting a handle on their personalities. Am I the only jonin in this room that bothers to think ahead?"
Kakashi was reading his book and Asuma was fiddling with his cigarette. Evidently, she was.
She sighed and laid her face in her hands. "Fine, then. Just take my word for it. The Uchiha kid is a self-centered brat and you're going to have your work cut out for you."

"Hmmm…" Sarutobi grunted. "I would think Naruto would be able to warm him up a bit better. And it is traditional that the highest and lowest-ranked genins be placed on the same team to balance it out."
"Perhaps," Kurenai agreed. "But I think that kid's been through enough without sticking him on a team with two people who won't appreciate him, and neither Haruno nor Uchiha respect him at all… Besides, given what he did tonight, I'm not sure I agree with his assessment results."
The third Hokage nodded thoughtfully. "You think he will do better on your team?"
"Aburame Shino seems neutral toward the boy, which is better than the outright disparagement he receives from other students. Hyuuga Hinata would be his friend if she were not so shy." Kurenai paused for a moment before continuing. "I believe that if your law mandating secrecy regarding the jinchuuriki were to be strictly enforced, all of the academy students would be made orphans."
Yuuhi Kurenai was quite sure that, were she to drop a senbon, the clatter when it struck the floor would have been deafening in that silence.
"That is ridiculous!" One of the academy workers snapped. "I have never heard one whisper of the Kyuubi in all the time I have worked here. No parent has told their child of it!"
"No," Kurenai drawled, "they instead tell their children to hate Uzumaki Naruto and shun him for no reason they will admit. You don't hide a secret by drawing attention to it with bright lights and dancing around it doing everything you can get away with that doesn't involve saying the forbidden words."
Sarutobi sighed and sagged in his chair for a moment. Kurenai was reminded how old he actually was, and how he'd been enjoying his retirement up until his successor was forced to sacrifice his life to seal the Kyuubi. She felt a stab of shame that she'd reminded him of how little some of the villagers deserved his protection.
"Anyway," she continued in a kinder voice, "I think the gaki has a lot of potential. If I can bring it out, he may one day become a formidable shinobi."
"That may be a lot of work," Iruka said in a cautious voice. Kurenai's eye caught him wincing a little, obviously torn by his loyalty to the boy. She considered that a point in his favor.
"It will be worth it to prevent any more… accidents," she said in little more than a whisper. Even Kakashi managed to look uncomfortable, for all that his mask hid.
"Very well," the Hokage said in a quiet voice. "I will want weekly reports on the boy's progress and his physical and mental state."
Kurenai nodded. She expected as much.
Hyuuga Hinata had not slept well that night. Yesterday had been the last day she'd likely see Naruto in a long time. She passed her Genin Exam, but he would be staying at the academy for remedial classes until he could pass. He tried so hard that it broke her heart to see him fail. For once, his smiling mask had slipped and he'd walked outside like a broken down old man.
And still she failed to say anything to the boy who inspired her so much with his attitude and ever-present smile. Her father was right – she was a useless coward. Not brave enough to do more than hide and watch him like some pathetic stalker.
She'd always been a little embarrassed for the sillier kunoichis who chased Uchiha Sasuke around like a miniature fan club. But in the end, was she any better? She was just as hare-brained and silly, and even more cowardly. Those girls at least had the courage to let Sasuke know that they liked him. Not even the prospect of not seeing Naruto anymore could make her act, and she despised herself for it.
She'd been too upset at herself to even think of eating breakfast, and her steps faltered as she slowly walked to the Konoha Ninja Academy for the last time. Her only consolation was the possibility that she might see Naruto there again today. It was fairly common for students who failed the Genin Exam to stay home the following day – it was painful and embarrassing to see your classmates who were leaving to become full-fledged shinobi, even if they were only reporting to a different room for team assignments. But then again, Naruto seldom did the usual thing. The prospect of seeing him again, even if it would be the last time in a long while, buoyed her spirit. Maybe today she would find the courage to actually speak to him.
Her steps quickened as hope slowly leaked into her heart. She soon made her way into the academy building and found the classroom where the new genins were assembled.
Her classmates were spread out in their usual disarray, but Naruto was there as well, with his head down on a desk. She froze in shock as she walked in the door, but then her feet automatically led her to one of her usual seats; high up and near the door in the back – everyone ahead of her and no one behind. She stared at the boy, wondering if someone would come in and tell him to leave. Finally, Nara Shikamaru ambled into the room and stopped by Naruto's table. When he asked Naruto why he was there, the blond boy sat up and said he'd passed, showing off his new hitai-ite. "Naruto-kun graduated too," she whispered to herself.
Then Ino and Sakura burst into the room, arguing about who arrived first. Naruto stared in her direction, his face lighting up, and Hinata felt her heart skip a beat. But then the pink-haired kunoichi walked by her and she realized Naruto was looking at her instead.
"Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted her with a smile as she approached.
"Out of my way!" Sakura snarled as she elbowed him to the floor so she could sit next to Uchiha Sasuke.
An unpleasant voice in Hinata's head said it was glad that the girl Naruto seemed to like did not return his affections. But for the most part, she was dismayed to see him treated so cavalierly.

Then Ino contested Sakura's right to sit in the chair she'd just thrown poor Naruto out of. In moments, most of the girls in the room were arguing over the evicted seat while Naruto was still sprawled at their feet.
Naruto climbed up on the desk and glared at Sasuke, again attracting the ire of Sasuke's fan club. Even worse, an inattentive boy at the table in front of them bumped into Naruto, making his and Sasuke's faces meet. It was hard to tell from where she sat, but from the screams of outrage that followed immediately afterward, it seems the two boys had inadvertently kissed. Hinata thought it was somewhat funny, especially the way the two boys carried on afterwards, spitting and gagging like they'd been poisoned.
The Sasuke Fan Club ™ on the other hand, was incensed at Naruto's forward behavior – not to mention quite jealous. The beating they gave Naruto was well out of proportion to his actual offense. Hinata grew worried as they showed no signs of stopping. She pushed back her chair and was about to intervene when Iruka-sensei entered the room and broke it up. Poor Naruto looked like he'd been run over by a farmer's wagon.
When Iruka-sensei announced that the teams had been chosen, Hinata began pressing her index fingers together as her thoughts raced. I might be on a team with Naruto-kun. I might not be on a team with Naruto-kun. Those two thoughts kept repeating as the instructor worked his way down the list.
"Team Seven: Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."
Sakura looked ecstatic as Ino's face fell. Naruto also seemed horribly disappointed, and Hinata couldn't help but feel sorry for him, even though her own hopes were rising.
"Team Eight: Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, and Aburame Shino."
Naruto's expression didn't change, but Hinata thought her heart would explode out of her chest. She knew her racing pulse was making her cheeks flush, but she couldn't help it. Not only had Naruto passed, but they would be together on the same team. This was rapidly becoming one of the happiest days of her life, definitely the happiest since her mother died.
When the team assignments were completed, they were given a long lunch break, as their jonin instructors would be meeting with them that afternoon. Sasuke immediately got up and stalked out of the room, Sakura trailing behind him. Kiba grunted as he stood up, frowning at already being left behind by his team.
Naruto stared after Sakura, and sat in silence after she left. Hinata felt ashamed that she'd been happy he was on her team instead of Sakura's. She was an awful person if she took joy from the sadness of someone she admired. She looked down at her hands and began pressing her fingers again. She was too ashamed to look up as Naruto left the room.
After a while she got up and went outside. She saw Aburame Shino sitting on a bench near the playground. Determined to get to know her other teammate, Hinata sat down on the other end of the bench from the silent boy.
"Ano… I understand we are to be teammates," she said in a quiet voice.
The Aburame genius turned toward her, his face expressionless – what little of it she could see behind the high collar and the dark glasses he wore. "Hai," he said in little more than a whisper. He then turned back and Hinata realized he was studying an ant hill that had been constructed in front of the bench.
Hinata blinked and began unpacking her lunch. She thought of offering some to her teammate. She tended to bring more than she needed, on the off chance that one day Naruto would forget to bring his usual cup ramen. Alas, she never had the chance to share her food with him… not that she would've had the courage to approach him, she reproached herself bitterly.
Shino, however, had also brought food. It was a little disconcerting to see his kikai bugs swarming onto the dish as they consumed a portion of his rice and fish. They confined themselves to one corner of the square container as Shino's chopsticks fed their host.
Hinata bit into a rice ball and wondered what she could do. She'd never been in this position before, trying to converse with someone who was even quieter than she was. "Ano… which jonin do you think we will be assigned to?"
Shino turned toward her again. He seemed to stare at her for a long moment, making her fingers fidget even faster. "Given our abilities, I would think one of the scouting specialists. Uzumaki's presence is troubling though."
Hinata took a deep breath. "I'm sure he will work very hard to make us successful," she said in as firm a voice as she could muster.
Shino simply regarded her for several heartbeats before answering. "Perhaps. But he doesn't possess a bloodline or sensory abilities. I question what role he could perform, or if he was simply placed here to keep him out of the way."
Hinata felt her stomach contract into a small, hard ball. She always questioned whether she would actually be useful as a ninja or not. Was Team 8 just a place for throwaway ninjas? Had she and Naruto been placed here to keep them out of the way? But what about Shino? He was supposed to be the pride of the Aburame clan, the best bug user they'd produced in over a generation. "Ano… I don't think we're a team for shinobi that no one wants. Naruto works very hard when he trains by himself, and he still received a hitai-ite. "
Shino turned back toward his lunch. "That may have been done to remove him from the academy. There is something about him that the adults do not like. My clan will not speak of it, but they do not hold him in high regard."  

[Pandora Green]

While Hinata was glad that Shino was speaking more, his words disturbed her. She remembered the way her father's face twisted when one of Naruto's pranks was mentioned at dinner. The branch family retainer blanched under Otousan's furious glare, and for an instant Hinata thought his cursed seal had been activated. Hinata may not have been the ideal Hyuuga warrior, but even without her Byakugan active, she was still intelligent and above all, observant. As such, the looks some of the adults gave the object of her affections did not escape her notice. "Surely they don't hate him for pulling a few pranks? Naruto-kun never hurt anyone, not even by accident."
"I believe it's something deeper than that. I've heard his name mentioned in passing even before the first time he defaced the Hokage Monument," Shino replied.
Hinata was too involved in their conversation to wonder at how her teammate seemed to have finally discovered that he had a voice. Later, she would wonder if it was the teasing apart of a mystery that finally engaged him, or if it was simply the fact that someone was actively seeking to speak with him. Hinata wasn't especially fond of insects, but they didn't creep her out like they did some girls. "What else could he have done to become so unpopular?" she asked, frowning.
"It may not be anything he did," Shino replied. "I don't know of another Uzumaki in the village, so he may have come from a family that disgraced themselves in some fashion. Hokage-sama wouldn't execute a child for the crimes of the parents, no matter how heinous. The villagers may not be so forgiving."
Hinata sat there, her mind racing as a half-eaten rice ball fell back into her bentou. As far as she knew, Naruto-kun had no parents, and was forced to live alone as there was no one who would take him in. To think that he would still be blamed for the actions of people he'd never met made her feel very strangely. It was similar to the tight feeling she got when Otousan told her Hanabi would make a better heir and how she at least could make him proud… but the emotion gripping her right now was much stronger.
Hyuuga Hinata was angry. These people deliberately hurt her Naruto-kun with their cold eyes. The boy with the big dreams who always smiled and tried again no matter what – he deserved better than that. She'd seen his smile slip a few times, the most recently after the Genin Exam, and even if she was too cowardly to say anything to him, his sorrow still stabbed her heart like a kunai. After a moment she was able to master her new emotions and don the sterile mask she was taught a Hyuuga must always present to others. "That is very foolish of them," she said coldly, "since he is going to be Hokage some day."
Shino didn't say anything, but turned back to his lunch. While he didn't necessarily sound like he agreed with her, Hinata would settle for a lack of overt disagreement. They finished their meal in silence and returned to the academy to await their sensei.
Naruto sat at his desk with his head in his hands. The ache in his stomach was finally subsiding, but the pain in his heart was worse. It wasn't fair that Sakura was assigned to a different team, and even worse that she was partnered up with that Uchiha-teme.
When he saw Sasuke eating his lunch, Naruto was struck by inspiration. This might be his last chance to find out what Sakura really thought of him. Fortunately, the overconfident jerk was surprisingly easy to subdue. So much for genius. The look on his face when the kawarimi log appeared in a cloud of smoke and half a dozen clones descended on him like the wrath of Kami was the high point of Naruto's day. After that it was simply a matter of tying the fool up and using Henge no Jutsu to copy his appearance.
He found Sakura where he'd left her – scorning his presence and mooning after Sasuke-teme. He didn't think she could really be that cruel – not when she was so beautiful and smiled so sweetly. The way her face lit up as he approached made the breath catch in his throat, and for a moment he almost forgot that she was reacting to Sasuke's appearance, not his own.
After a moment, he remembered his plan and sat down on the stone bench next to her. He tried to copy Sasuke's patented slouch and glower, and it seemed to work. Sakura smiled shyly and blushed.
"So," Naruto said, trying to sound disinterested. "What's the deal with that Naruto boy who seems to like you? He's always greets you warmly every morning and you usually bash him on the head."
Sakura looked confused for a moment before giggling. "That Naruto, he's always such a pain. He doesn't really understand me, and he's always interfering with my plans." She sighed. "At least he's not on a team with us, and after today I won't ever have to look at him again. Aren't you relieved as well, Sasuke-kun?"
Naruto didn't trust his voice at that moment as he felt his heart shrivel up and blow away. He just grunted and stood up again. He slouched away as Sakura called after him. He refused to acknowledge her confused cries. Maybe she might come to know how it feels. Not that she cared. He was halfway to the academy building when his stomach began cramping violently.
Naruto did raise his head when he felt a presence full of killing intent enter the classroom. Sasuke didn't look at him directly as he stalked over to an empty seat, but Naruto could feel the anger radiating from the boy. Naruto also knew the stuck up Uchiha wouldn't say a word about what happened – he'd sooner die than admit that the 'dead last' had beaten him down in a fight. While he had been taken by surprise, it was no excuse for someone that was trained in the ninja arts… let alone the almighty Uchiha genius.
Naruto didn't even look directly at the boy, who also ignored Sakura's confused expression. "Those two deserve each other," he thought bitterly. "She just seems to irritate him, and now she'll get a chance to see how it's like to be ignored and despised."
His mind was so wrapped up in his misery that he almost missed Iruka calling out for Team 8. He stood up and sullenly shuffled over to the teacher's desk. Iruka frowned at him as he joined Hinata and Shino. Iruka-sensei introduced a tall woman with shoulder-length black hair and red eyes. "This is Yuuhi Kurenai. She will be your jonin instructor. Good luck to all of you." Iruka smiled when Naruto nodded and straightened the hitai-ite that Iruka had given him.
Kurenai smiled faintly, but her eyes were watchful as she led them outside. Hinata smiled at him, a little hesitantly. Naruto actually respected her for being one of the few girls in their class that didn't spend all their time fawning over Uchicha-teme. Shino was a little odd. He didn't talk much, just the opposite of Naruto, but the other kids avoided him because of the bugs, which was something they had in common. Naruto didn't mind bugs, as long as they didn't try to get into his food. His live-and-let-live attitude ended where his ramen began.
As he walked out the door, Naruto found himself looking back at Kiba, Sasuke, and Sakura, who were still waiting for their jonin instructor to show up. He took a deep breath and turned his back on them, leaving with his new team.
Kurenai didn't miss the blond boy's backward glance as she led them out of the classroom. "He must be disappointed he wasn't teamed with that Haruno girl," she concluded to herself, "not that she ever gave him the time of day. Was I ever that young and stupid? Surely not."
She spoke aloud after leading them out to the playground. "Now, I'd like to get to know each of you, so please tell me a little about yourselves." It was better to handle introductions in a familiar place, to put them all at ease. "I'll begin. I am Yuuhi Kurenai, and I became a jonin after the last exam. I'm a specialist with various types of genjutsu. I like to study human psychology, sing karaoke, and work in my garden. I dislike loud drunks and people who think I can't be an effective ninja because I'm a woman. My ambition is to prove that a reconnaissance specialized team can be successful and to see all three of you become jonins."
Naruto looked at each of his less-than-talkative teammates and then cleared his throat. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen. I hate how long it takes to make instant ramen and stuck up bastards like Sasuke-teme. My ambition is to one day become Hokage."
When neither Shino or Hinata showed signs of speaking up, Naruto nudged the Aburame boy. Shino's head snapped around at Naruto so quickly the blond flinched back. Kurenai wondered if the bug-user was used to any sort of human contact. "I am Aburame Shino. I like to study insects and find new varieties that haven't been catalogued by my family yet. I dislike people who kill insects for no reason. My ambition is to learn all of the Aburame bloodline jutsus and then develop my own techniques using my allies."
Once the taller boy finished, everyone looked toward Hinata, who appeared to be ready to sink into the ground without the benefit of a Doton jutsu. "A-ano… I am Hyuuga Hinata. I like cheerful people… who are kind. I dislike… people who hurt others… for no reason. My ambition is to become stronger so I will be acknowledged by my father… and someone else."
Kurenai nodded thoughtfully. Shino was just as focused, or obsessed, as she thought. Hinata's home life was probably just as bad as she'd imagined from watching her. Naruto's focus was scattered all over the place, which was also about what she expected. He was going to need a lot of work, and the sooner she started the better. "Very good. Now, are you all familiar with training ground number nineteen?" she asked, specifying a variable-terrain space set aside along the southern border of the village. When all three of them nodded she continued. "Good. We're going to do a short skill assessment. Meet me there as quickly as you can." With that, her hands blurred into a seal and she disappeared in a sudden swirl of wind-blown leaves.
As soon as the substitution technique was finished, Kurenai took off for the designated training area at her best speed, leaping from roof to roof and tree to tree. With her advanced chakra control, she could feed a trickle of energy into her legs, allowing her to reach incredible speeds as she traveled overhead.
Surprisingly, she barely beat Naruto there. All that being chased after pranking had to pay off somehow. The boy had incredible stamina, just as she suspected. He was blowing hard and sweating when he arrived, but his color and respiration normalized in less than three minutes. It's not like he could ever use stealth to escape from pursuers, not with that bright orange jumpsuit.
Shino arrived a few minutes later, followed shortly by a badly-winded Hinata.
"I can see we're going to need to work on speed and endurance both," Kurenai said, frowning.
"Is that because we're going to be a reconnaissance team?" Shino asked.
"Yes and no," Kurenai answered. "Moving quickly is especially important for successfully completing a scouting mission. However, endurance training will also help increase your chakra reserves, which will in turn improve your taijutsu and make your ninjutsus easier to use."
Shino and Hinata nodded at this. Naruto just looked confused. "What do you all mean by a reconnaissance team?" he finally asked.
Kurenai nodded to acknowledge his question. If the boy had as hard a time in the academy as she thought, she didn't want him to be reluctant to ask her for information. "That's a very good question, Naruto. When genins are selected for teams, it's common practice to put members together who have powers that compliment each other. For example, Team 10 has a Nara, a Yamanaka, and an Akimichi. Their fathers all worked together as well. The Nara and Yamanaka bloodlines are especially useful for capturing or immobilizing people, and Akimichis excel at grappling techniques. Furthermore, the Akimichis have some special attacks that are truly devastating, but somewhat easy to avoid."
Naruto frowned for a moment. "So Ino and Shikamaru hold them while Chouji pounds them?"
Kurenai nodded. "That's one way their abilities compliment each other. Now a reconnaissance team has members whose abilities make them especially well suited for finding the enemy or discovering their secrets. Sometimes that information is more valuable than gold – being able to adequately prepare for the enemy has decided more wars than any fighting technique or jutsu."
"Ano, K-kurenai-sensei," Hinata spoke up, "how do my, I mean our abilities make us suited for such a role?"
"That's also a very good question, Hinata. Your Byakugan eyes are an obvious asset. You can see for very long distances and through light cover when you activate them. With proper positioning, you can see into a commander's tent and read his battle plans with no one being the wiser. Shino's bugs can also be invaluable when seeking out the enemy. I've worked with members of his clan before, and the kikai bugs have an excellent sense of smell. They also make good sentries. When deployed around the team, they can alert us if an enemy patrol is approaching. One of the greatest hazards of getting close to the enemy is the chance that they will stumble over you and attack."
Kurenai paused, thinking about how to phrase what she wanted to say next. Naruto, however, noticed the incompleteness of her response.
"Sensei, what role do I play?" he asked, his eyebrows drawn down in a frown.
Kurenai sighed. "I won't lie to you. The scouting missions our team will likely be assigned will be dangerous. That is why I don't want this team to be over specialized in that role. Naruto, if the worst happens and we are discovered deep in enemy territory, your job will be to buy us time to escape. Your… unexpected… skill with Kage Bunshin makes you well suited toward distracting pursuers so we can successfully disengage."
"So it's all about running away?" Naruto asked, sticking out his lower lip.
"Yes, it is," Kurenai answered sharply. "Because completing your mission is what shinobi do. Proving who's tougher is a schoolyard game. Staying to fight when the Hokage needs our information isn't just stupid, it's treasonous. Ninjas who don't learn that lesson usually die as fools. Their names won't even be carved onto the memorial stone because they threw their lives away, rather than sacrificing them for something meaningful."
Everyone grew quiet after that. Kurenai gave them a moment to digest that, then set them to work on basic taijutsu drills. Hinata proved to be the best of the bunch. Her form was almost perfect, and her movements were swift and precise. While she may lack somewhat in power and speed, that would come as she got older. Shino's taijutsu was workmanlike, not particularly inspired, but she was sure he practiced it more for the chakra enhancement than anything else. More chakra meant more energy for his bugs. Naruto's stances were awful and his form was unbelievably sloppy. At the same time, he was blindingly fast and seemed to pull off the wall moves out of thin air. When he sparred with Shino, he proved unusually adept at using the terrain to his advantage, ricocheting off an overhanging branch to land a kick on the taller boy's head.
Kurenai scowled as she realized why his hand to hand skills were so undisciplined. With no friends and no parents, he could only practice outside of school by himself. He was probably going to one of the training grounds and trying to teach himself the more advanced taijutsu moves, possibly after watching older ninjas train. It was a wonder he wasn't worse. She considered her possibilities as she watched Shino knock the smaller boy down for the fifth time in a row.
"Yamete! That's enough." The boys separated and she noticed that after two deep breaths Naruto didn't even appear to have been exercising at all. Taijutsu wasn't one of her strengths, but she did know someone who was quite good… and Gai had been asking her for tips on teaching his genins how to recognize advanced genjutsus.
She then had them demonstrate some of their preferred ninjutsus. Shino used his kikai bugs to turn a log into a pile of sawdust in less than a minute. Hinata did a henge of Kurenai that was picture perfect – until the shy and hesitant body language immediately revealed the imposter. Naruto leapt to his feet when it was his turn and called out "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" in an enthusiastic voice.
There was a loud pop and two more Narutos appeared on either side of him. Both looked rather pale and sickly. One immediately ran behind some bushes and began making retching sounds. Kurenai felt the burst of malformed chakra when Naruto fired off his technique – she was actually surprised he produced anything at all. The other sickly twin broke wind so violently that he disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"Very impressive," Shino said in a deadpan voice. "I'm sure if we're about to be captured they will be quite a diversion."
"Kuso!" Naruto cursed. His reddened face screwed up in a rictus of concentration, he formed the Ram seal again and roared "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" at the top of his lungs. Kurenai felt the hairs on the back of her neck stir as she felt the massive surge of chakra being shaped.
At first Kurenai thought her eyes were blurring, but that was just the shimmer that preceded the shadow duplicates as they popped into existence. The fact that the blurring covered most of her field of vision was because Naruto had filled the clearing with clones. She heard Iruka describe how Mizuki had been beaten to within an inch of his life, but it was quite another thing to see a genin use a jonin-level jutsu to create almost a hundred duplicates of himself. The gaki had a right to stand there proudly with his arms folded across his chest. Especially since he didn't look like he was about to collapse from chakra depletion.
Shino's eyebrows had become visible over his glasses; while Hinata's pearly eyes had gone wide as a blush reddened her cheeks.
"That's more like it," Kurenai said warmly. Naruto blinked and scratched at the back of his head in embarrassed pleasure. Inside, she was saddened. For the boy to react so strongly to a simple compliment… It said a lot about his early life, none of it pleasant. Her respect for the Sandaime had also taken a hit. The boy deserved a lot better than he'd gotten.
Naruto set his clones to sparring one another while Kurenai gestured for them to sit down. She ignored the errant clone that made a rude gesture at Shino's back, causing Hinata to stifle a giggle.
"That was a very interesting display, all of you. Tonight and tomorrow I'll be putting together some training plans for all three of you. We'll meet here at noon to discuss these, and then we will report to the Hokage for our first mission. So go home and get a good night's sleep."
"Yatta!" Naruto yelled, leaping to his feet. "Our first mission!" He struck a 'V for Victory' pose that made Kurenai and Hinata smile. Shino did not react, at least not visibly.
As Hinata and Shino left, Kurenai tapped Naruto's shoulder. The boy shied away from the unexpected touch in a way she found disconcerting. "I'd like to talk to you about a couple of things," she said in a quiet voice.
Naruto looked at his teammates, who were already out of earshot. He let out a resigned sigh and shrugged. Kurenai suppressed the urge to try out some phrases she'd picked up from Asuma. Instead, she put on what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Come on," she said. "I'll buy you dinner while we talk."
Naruto brightened as they began walking.
"But no ramen."
He frowned.
"If you eat nothing but noodles, it's no wonder you're the shortest kid in your class. Don't you know if you don't eat right it will stunt your growth?"
Now the boy looked horrified.
Kurenai sighed. "I don't mean never eat it again. But if you don't get some vegetables and a good amount of protein and dairy products in your diet, you'll never achieve your full growth."
"I drink milk every day," he said defensively.
"That's a good start, but you still need protein, and vegetables contain vitamins you can't get anywhere else. It's a wonder you don't have rickets or scurvy."
"Nani?"
"Those are malnutrition-related diseases that sailors used to get when they went on long voyages without proper food."
"How do you know so many things?" he asked as they left the training area and re-entered the village.
"I'm a jouinin." It was easier than explaining that she was an insomniac who read half the night. Reading was a lot easier on her mind than thinking about Mattai  

[Pandora Green]

As they walked, Kurenai noticed the subtle glares and sneers the villagers directed toward her student. She began returning the glares, and made a point of straightening her hitai-ite. She was a jonin, by Kami, and she wasn't going to put up with any attitude directed toward herself or her student.
Her red eyes were just a Yuuhi family quirk, but back when she was a genin, Kurenai developed a low-powered genjutsu that gave her eyes a subtle glow. It was more cheap theatrics than anything else, but Mattai thought it was hilarious. It was fairly effective on the less intelligent residents of Konoha – villagers who thought she was 'too pretty' to be a ninja, and shinobi who wouldn't take no for an answer. The seals were easily performed in an unobtrusive fashion and soon she was glowering at anyone who looked twice at her charge. The glow was just barely visible in the waning afternoon light, and it had the desired effect. Kurenai smothered a smile as a particularly obnoxious shopkeeper stumbled over his own merchandise when his glaring eyes moved from Naruto to her. The crash of broken bottles was music to her ears.
Naruto looked back at her and twitched a little when he saw her eyes. She smiled at him and he grinned back. Unlike his previous smiles, this one was shy, with just a hint of mischief. Kurenai wondered if this was the first honest smile of his that she'd seen.
Moritake's was a small café run by a retired shinobi who'd been a friend of Kobaru-sensei. Moritake-san lost most of his lower left leg to an explosive tag trap during the war with the hidden village of stone, and was retired as an active shinobi. He still tended bar and swapped stories with the new graduates, making the place popular with ninja of more than one generation.
Kurenai always dropped by on Kobaru-sensei's birthday and on the anniversary of that awful day when… Anyway, he recognized her the minute she walked in. Naruto rather hesitantly followed her as she strolled up to the bar. He obviously wasn't used to this kind of place.
"Kurenai-chan!" Moritake-san called out with a smile. "And who is the Gaki?"
"This is Uzumaki Naruto," she said in a loud voice, "one of my new students."
She was a little disappointed to see the hesitant expression on Moritake's face, but he quickly mastered it and smiled at the boy. "I know what she wants, but how about some tea, kid?"
Naruto nodded and Kurenai wondered why he was being so quiet. She accepted the warmed bottle of sake with a smile, then placed an order for some yakitori, along with steamed rice and vegetables. Carrying their drinks, Naruto followed her to a table in the corner.
They sat down and Kurenai poured a saucer of the steaming liquid and used it to wash the dust from her throat. She looked over at Naruto, who took a sip of his tea, but seemed pensive. Kurenai looked around. Was he being quiet because he was nervous being in the restaurant?
"Have you ever been in a place like this before?" she asked him in a quiet voice.
Naruto shook his head. "No. I've been to Ichiraku's for ramen, it's really good there, and…" his voice trailed off.
"And they don't run you out like other places do?"
Naruto nodded and growled. "Stupid people…" he muttered.
"I know why they act that way," Kurenai said and Naruto stiffened. "And you're right," she continued, "they are stupid people."
Naruto looked up at her. "Iruka said he wasn't allowed to tell."
"He isn't. I was there actually, when it happened. I was barely a genin, and we were assigned areas well away from the worst of it. No one knows why the demon decided to attack Konoha, and I doubt we ever will. But the people blaming you for its actions are just trying to strike back at something because they have fear and anger left over from those days. That still doesn't excuse their behavior though. The Hokage's law prohibits me from saying anything to people who don't already know – and you know. The law specifically doesn't apply to you either – you can tell anyone you want to."
"Nani? Why would I want anyone else to know why all the adults hate me?"
"I don't think all the adults hate you. I certainly don't. You had nothing to do with what happened to the village, and you're maintaining the seal that makes sure it doesn't happen again. I think your friends, your true friends, won't care."
"I don't think I have any friends like that, Kurenai-sensei."
"Perhaps, perhaps not. Maybe you will in the future, so don't close off any of your options. Anyway, I wanted to ask you, are you serious about your dream? About wanting to become Hokage?"
"Yes!" Naruto said the word so forcefully that people at neighboring tables glanced over at them.
"Being the Hokage means making decisions for and protecting the entire village and everyone within it," Kurenai informed him. "Including the people that glare at you and treat you like a criminal today. Are you sure you want to devote your life to protecting them as well?"
Naruto took a deep breath. "I'm already doing that, aren't I? The fourth Hokage picked me for some reason to hold back that b*****d fox. I spend every day keeping it from destroying Konoha. If he picked me for that duty, I'd like to think he considered me worthy of that responsibility. I just want everyone else to see me that way as well, so his choice would not be in vain."
Kurenai leaned back in her chair and took another long swallow of sake. The hot alcohol blazed a warm trail down her throat and spread out from her stomach. The boy's reasons were not the absolute best, but she knew a lot of kids his age whose ambitions were anchored on far less worthy soil. "All right," she said, "maybe you will make a worthy successor. I'll help you get there."
Naruto stared at her, eyes wide. Maybe she was the first person who hadn't laughed at his ambition. She doubted the Hyuuga girl would, but first she needed to work up the courage to actually speak to him. Something else she needed to work on with the girl.
"First things first," Kurenai continued. "When you have a big goal, the first thing to do is to break it up into smaller goals. You can use those as milestones toward your final objective. Now, what rank is below Hokage?"
"Jonins and special jonins," Naruto replied.
"And before that?"
"Chuunin."
"So good milestones would be achieving chuunin and jonin, correct?"
Naruto nodded.
"Okay, before you can even think about testing for chuunin, we need to make you a solid genin."
Naruto frowned. "I've already made genin," he protested.
"Naruto," Kurenai said firmly, "I'm not going to lie to you. You are sort of a mess right now. You have a lot of potential, but for various reasons, some of them most definitely not your fault, you have yet to achieve that potential. On the other hand, you also seem willing to work hard for your goals, correct?"
Naruto looked hurt, but still nodded.
"Good. A little hard work can make up for a lot." She took another drink of her cooling sake. "With your endurance, you should be able to make up a lot of ground. I wasn't kidding about your role in the team. If things get dicey, they will be depending on you to get them out of danger. The more you improve your taijutsu, the better your clones will fight. The more ninjutsus you know, the better you can utilize that enormous chakra capacity you have. The day will come when Shino and Hinata's lives may depend on you. Mine as well. I'm going to be setting up a lot of extra training for you, if you are willing to do the work. Are you?"
Kurenai found herself blinking rapidly at the expression on Naruto's face. That earlier smile was nothing compared to this one. Naruto's hand shook where it was gripping the table. "K-kurenai-sama, I-"
"Just work hard at your training," she interrupted him, using a purposefully light tone of voice. "And when you're Hokage, assign me a bunch of easy missions and we'll call it even, okay?"
"Hai!" Naruto barked.
Their food arrived at that point and with a shared "Itadakimasu!" they went to work on it. Kurenai was secretly glad of the interruption. Her student was getting a little emotional, and it was becoming contagious. He was just so damn earnest, about everything. Kurenai was an only child, but now she had a pretty good idea of what it would be like to have a younger brother.
After the waitress cleared the plates, Kurenai drank the last of her sake. "We also need to do something about that," she said as she reached across the table and tugged on Naruto's sleeve.
"Nani?"
Kurenai frowned. "Er, you aren't color blind, are you?"
Naruto frowned. "No."
"Then you do realize you are wearing a bright orange jumpsuit, right?"
Naruto nodded. 'What's wrong with it?"
"Naruto, we may need to sneak around at some point. That means bright colors are not a good idea. That's why Shino and Hinata are wearing neutral colors."
"But you're wearing red, and that wrap around thing is black and white," he objected.
"I don't usually wear this in the field, though some kunoichis dress in bright colors so they can masquerade as civilian women. Besides, I mask my appearance with a genjutsu anyway. The brightest color I wore as a genin was such a dark red that it looked like brown from a distance."
"But I like this suit," Naruto whined, looking away and frowning.
Something didn't add up for Kurenai. At first she wondered if he couldn't afford new clothes. But with the stipend he received from the Hokage, and his cheap tastes in food, he shouldn't be hard up for ryou. Then she remembered the looks he received from the shopkeepers on the way there. "Tell you what, meet me at the Hokage tower at nine and I will take you to a place I know."
Naruto looked up and nodded eagerly, confirming her suspicions.
She sat there quietly fuming while they waited for the check. The boy was reluctant to put up with abuse from random shopkeepers, but that left her wondering where he'd found the orange suit. Maybe it had been cast off in a refuse heap, or it had been the only thing they were willing to sell to him. Perhaps some worthless trash of a human being hoped the bright colors would make him more likely to die on a mission.
Kurenai didn't know the owner of the equipment store she frequented, but if they snubbed Naruto in front of her it would be the last thing they did. Experiencing two hours in the life of Uzumaki Naruto left Yuuhi Kurenai ready to commit assault, if not murder.
After she paid the bill, she sent Naruto home with a reminder to meet her in the morning. Then she went straight home to her bed. She planned to get up very early and have some strong words with the Hokage before she took Naruto to get properly outfitted.  

[Pandora Green]

Chapter 2
Kurenai squinted as the morning sun glinted off the white-painted exterior of the Hokage's tower. She had a blinding headache fueled by a lack of sleep and the company she'd been keeping. She'd lain awake longer than she wanted, brooding about her genins. Her original hope was that Naruto would help bring the Hyuuga girl out of her shell. Making the disrespected Hyuuga heir a strong shinobi would be indirect revenge on the head of that arrogant clan, but it was the best she could manage for the time being.
But it seemed that Naruto would need help of his own. Once you got past the bluster and the pranks, he was just as insecure as Hinata. He just hid it better. Shino had less psychological baggage than his teammates, but he also seemed to lack some of their fire. He just didn't seem to put as much effort into things. Perhaps it was that detached persona the Aburames cultivated. The ones she'd met seemed to act as unemotional and precise as the insects they partnered with. Shino was definitely going to be a challenge to understand.
Naruto's deficiencies were the most glaring though, and might take the longest to correct. So she awoke with her alarm before five and sought out Maito Gai at his favorite training ground.
Kurenai had a theory about the more skilled jonins developing severe personality quirks to compensate for the stresses of missions. If she ever wanted to make a presentation on this theory for the Konoha Natural Philosophy Society, Maito Gai would be exhibit A. She supposed he might have been dropped on his head as a child. Repeatedly. But that didn't explain how he'd survived to become a genin. It was depressing, but far more likely, that he'd started obsessing about green spandex and the power of youth after he became a jonin.
Yuuhi Kurenai dreaded the day she woke up and realized that she'd become just as eccentric in her own way. She'd have no choice at that point but to do the honorable thing and end her own life.
At least Gai was predictable in his obsessions. Every morning they were not out on missions, he and Rock Lee were up before the dawn, working on ridiculously intricate taijutsu combinations. At least he'd focused some of his obsessions in positive ways. His taijutsu was said to be among the best of his generation, and he'd taken on a student with underdeveloped chakra coils and made him an effective shinobi.
She supposed the extra stress of learning how to complete missions without resorting to ninjutsus or genjutsus was considerable. Something had to explain the accelerated descent of Rock Lee into green spandex-clad madness with his sensei.
On the other hand, it was hard to argue with results. The green-clad genin moved so quickly that without chakra, her eyes had difficulty keeping up with him, and his punches were leaving visible divots in the thick training logs. Naruto could learn a lot here.
Gai looked up from his pupil and flashed what he probably thought was a charming grin. "Kurenai-san, you are up early to see the power of youth!"
Kurenai nodded, though she imagined her smile was a little sickly. She was not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. "I knew I could find you here."
Gai's expression became a trifle smug. "It takes a lot of training to become a genius of hard work! But Lee will make it because he is full of the fires of youth!"
"Yosh! Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
Kurenai knew she needed to n** this in the bud. Her impending migraine was only a couple of verses away. "I wanted to talk to you about some supplemental training for Tenten, and something else that has come up."
Maito Gai might be self-absorbed, overenthusiastic, and completely lacking in fashion sense, but he wasn't stupid. "Lee! Run five laps around Konoha!"
"Yes, Gai-sensei! And if I cannot do that without stopping, I will climb to the top of the Hokage monument, walking only on my hands!"
Gai cheered as his student took off. Kurenai wondered if Naruto would be safe hanging around with these two. She'd have to make sure later on that day to impress upon her genin that neon green was also not an appropriate color for ninja attire.
Kurenai gathered her thoughts as Gai turned back toward her and crossed his arms in what he seemed to think was a serious pose. "Now that Lee is testing his endurance, what did you wish to discuss?" His smile was a little too eerie for Kurenai's tastes.
"I've been thinking about your idea regarding using our specialized knowledge to best develop our students' potential," she said carefully.
That wasn't exactly what he said when the jonins were all out drinking. What he actually said was something more along the lines of how he'd take pity on any students assigned to his Kakashi, and train them out of sympathy for having such a heartless sensei. Kakashi of course replied by asking if he'd said something.
"Nani?" Gai's inch-thick eyebrows bunched up in confusion.
"Well," Kurenai continued, "I thought it was a pretty good idea, so I'd like to work out a trade. I've got a student who needs a lot of extra work on his taijutsu. If he could join you and Lee in the mornings, he'd provide Lee with a sparring partner as well. In exchange, Tenten can join us when I work with my team on genjutsu training. Lee can come too, if you think he would benefit." Gai's other student, Hyuuga Neji, didn't really need the tutoring. His Byakugan could see through most genjutsus, and Kurenai wasn't crazy about the way she'd seen him glare at his cousin.
Gai ran his thumb over his chin in his 'deep thinking' pose. "Tenten could probably benefit the most, and Lee should at least know what to look for if he falls under a genjutsu. Which student did you want to work with us?"
"Uzumaki Naruto," Kurenai replied, waiting to gauge Gai's response.
To the man's credit, he only nodded thoughtfully. "He is rather small, even if he burns with the fire of youth. Do you think he will be able to train at the pace Lee sets?" The question was innocent, but she saw the man's pride in his disabled/specialized student.
"Naruto's stamina is nearly jonin level. Even when he becomes winded, he's ready to fight again in a couple of minutes. He's also highly motivated to prove himself." She smiled. The hook was baited, now to land the fish. "I wouldn't be surprised if, after getting used to your routine, he didn't start running the two of you ragged."
Maito Gai has never, to her knowledge, ever turned down a challenge of any sort. Ever. "Yosh! We will test the powers of his youth! Kurenai-san, send your student here tomorrow morning and we will make him a genius of hard work, second only to my Lee-kun!"
That was so easy that Kurenai felt a flash of guilt. "Good, and I will have Naruto tell you when we're going over genjutsu and your students will be welcome to join us."
The rising sun glinting off the man's teeth was beginning to give her a headache, so she made her goodbyes and sought out a cup of strong coffee.
There weren't many shops that sold coffee in Konoha. The Western drink was only just now becoming popular. There were even fewer places serving the caffeinated beverage that were open early in the morning and/or late at night. It was no coincidence that all of them were in close proximity to the Hokage's tower. A lot of all-nighters were conducted there.
Bolstered by two large cups of the strongest brew she could find, Kurenai made her way to the Hokage's office. His chuunin guards had eyes almost as red as hers, confirming her suspicions. The Sandaime was rumored to work incredibly long hours, rising early in the morning and often staying up all night. His only breaks from the pressures of his job were the short walks he took through the village, checking up on this and that. Even those had a purpose, as he often saw what others did not.
With all she knew of the man's dedication to the village and its residents, Kurenai couldn't understand why he let the situation with Naruto go on so long. The things she'd learned over the past week left her both angry and hungry for answers.
But an emotional display would not get her those answers, so she schooled her features into an impassive mask and nodded to the chuunin guards. She still had to remind herself at times that she outranked them now. "I wish to speak with Hokage-sama if he is available."
"Hai!" The one on her right barked. "He has been expecting you, Kurenai-san."
She didn't know if he was bluffing or not. Either way, she was impressed. She nodded to them as they opened the door and ushered her into the Hokage's office.
Seeing 'The Professor' like this, in the harsh and unforgiving morning sunlight, reminded her that the man was in his late sixties, and should have been happily retired. Instead, he'd been forced back into this office again, and had labored here for another twelve years after the death of the Yondaime. She felt a stab of pity for a man in a thankless job, but squashed it ruthlessly when she remembered someone who deserved better than they'd gotten.
"You're up early, Kurenai," he said in a mild tone.
"Hai, Hokage-sama," she replied in a formal tone, her voice slightly cold. "I have had a conversation that made sleeping… difficult."
He nodded slowly. "And who was this conversation with?"
"Uzumaki Naruto. After getting to know him a little… I find myself questioning my loyalty to Konoha."
Her words were chosen with the intent of provoking a reaction. An admission of semi-treasonous thoughts would normally be met with outrage or derision. She would not expect such a display from the Hokage, but she wasn't prepared for what he did do.
He smiled.
"I'm glad to see that Naruto has found another sympathetic ear," he said as he straightened up in his chair and re-lit his pipe.
"You…" Yuuhi Kurenai was not often struck speechless, but it took a moment for her to collect her thoughts. "You knew what was going on with the boy? Hokage-sama, why have you allowed this?"
The Sandaime sighed and for a moment his eyes showed her a glimpse of a supremely weary soul. "If only the Hokage were as powerful as everyone seems to think." He gave her a tired smile. "It would be nice to be able to do anything I wanted, at least for a short while."
Kurenai frowned. This wasn't going anything like what she expected. "But you are the Hokage! Your word is law!"
"It is, to a limited extent. In reality, the Hokage just shows the villagers and the shinobi the way. It is up to them to follow his leadership. The two halves of the equation must work together if anything is to be accomplished."
"And in the case of the boy?" She asked. Kurenai had a feeling she knew what he was driving at, but she needed to know for sure.
"You can lead the ox to the river, but it will only drink if it desires to do so. The village elders and the clan heads petition me to have the boy executed, or failing that, to exile him from the village. I refuse to do this. I tell them the boy is the Yondaime's legacy, and that he wished the boy to be seen as a hero, because he is the Kyuubi's jailor. They nod and agree with me, then when they go home they tell their subordinates to shun the boy."
"But… if they are defying your orders… you are the Hokage." The caffeine in Kurenai's blood was keeping her awake, but it also made her thoughts jitter like water-bugs as she struggled with the scope of this betrayal.
"They do nothing to openly defy me," Sarutobi assured her. "They have grown too wary for that. Villagers have tried to kill the boy on numerous occasions, only to be foiled by the ANBU. Worse, there have been shinobi, maddened by their grief, who also sought the boy's life." His eyes hardened. "They met with the same fate. But now? Now they agree with their mouths and disobey with their hearts. The Hokage can tell someone to treat the boy properly, but unless I or one of my subordinates stands over that person, they will not do something they feel has been forced upon them. Konoha has always placed fewer strictures on the private lives of its inhabitants, but it appears there is a downside to this freedom."
Kurenai found herself sitting in one of the chairs facing the Hokage's desk. She wasn't even aware of when she'd sat down. "So you're telling me that the villagers and a good portion of the shinobi… are so determined to abuse Naruto that they will go behind your back to do it? You basically have wide-spread civil disobedience where the boy is concerned?"
Sarutobi nodded. "That is one way to sum it up. The villagers look at the boy and see a reflection of their fears. The shinobi see a reflection of their loss. They won't see him as anything different until he can touch their hearts and make them see the truth. I think one day Naruto will prove himself to the village, and those who scorned him in the past will heartily regret their actions."
"Regrets?" Kurenai asked sharply. "Future regrets mean nothing to him right now. It's a wonder he hasn't run away, or started killing everyone he meets. These idiots will be lucky they don't turn him into a self-fulfilling prophecy with their own actions. Wouldn't it be kinder to send him away? Let him grow up in some isolated village where no one knows who he is?"
"No," the Hokage said in a firm tone. "Naruto is Konoha's. The Yondaime wished him to be the hero of the village, not the exiled pariah." He raised his hand as Kurenai started to speak. "Even if it would be kinder, there are other reasons he must stay. There are rumors of a group that has been seeking out information on the Jinchuuriki. It's not known why they want this, but Naruto is better off in Konoha, and learning to defend himself."
"That's why he was admitted into the Konoha Ninja Academy?"
"He actually wanted to attend…" The Hokage gave a slight smile. "He was quite determined to become a shinobi, as I recall. I just made sure no one stopped him from attending."
"No, but they sabotaged him at every opportunity, didn't they?" Kurenai knew a jonin was supposed to remain calm and logical at all times… but her frustration with what she was learning put that to the test.
"He still overcame that, didn't he?" that gentle smile was still on the Hokage's face. "And he was awarded his hitai-ite from his sensei, a man who lost his entire family to the Kyuubi." He paused for a moment, looking Kurenai directly in the eyes. "And now he has you."
Suddenly Kurenai felt like she'd just passed a test of some sort. "You were expecting me to come here today, weren't you?"
He nodded. "Perhaps not this early though."
"I had to get up to meet Gai. Naruto's taijutsu needs a lot of extra work. I agreed to work with Tenten on genjutsu, which Gai is hopeless at." She bit her tongue after saying that. Technically, jonins were responsible for training their own genins. There wasn't a specific rule against what she'd done, but it was definitely against custom.
The Hokage chuckled out loud, which shocked her. "Trust Yuuhi Kurenai to break the rules in such a way as to make us ask why we hadn't long ago."
Kurenai shrugged, a little uncomfortable with his humor. "It only made sense. Gai is the best taijutsu instructor I know. His time is better spent doing that than trying to teach genjutsus – something I can do better."
"I see the logic of your plan. Most jonins would not admit that someone else can teach a subject better than they."
"I aim for my genins to be as well prepared as possible before I lead them outside the walls of Konoha. We all know how… the unexpected… can always happen." She didn't mean to sound bitter, but her words still came out that way.
"You still dwell on that day." It was not a question her Hokage was asking.
"There are still no answers for what happened." Her voice was layered with a deep tension, like a steel cable gradually becoming taut.
"You mean there are no answers that you will accept," despite his words, the Hokage's voice was gentle. He seemed to be more sad than anything else.
"Some things stretch the boundaries of coincidence… and we all know who benefited the most from such a tragedy." The cable began to vibrate.
"But there is no proof."
"Is that an indication of innocence? Or cunning? It doesn't matter. I have another team with someone on it who he would rather see in the ground. I'm not going to take any chances this time."
That refusal to take any chances was why she found herself standing outside the Hokage's tower right now, waiting for her student. And feeling her headache get steadily worse.
Fortunately, she did not have long to wait. Shortly before the ninth hour, an orange blur appeared in the distance, bouncing along the rooftops. She watched closely, but there didn't seem to be anyone chasing him, which was a relief. She hoped he'd stop committing pranks all the time… especially if she kept him too busy to get bored.
Naruto landed in a crouch in front of her, grinning like a madman.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "What's the rush?" she asked.
"Ano, you said yesterday that a scouting team needed to do a lot of running away. So I figured it would be good training to travel as quickly as possible."
Kurenai nodded. "And your alarm didn't go off and you barely woke up in time to get here."
Naruto laughed uneasily, and scratched at the back of his head, a little embarrassed.
She chuckled a little as she gestured for him to walk with her. "Well, we'll need to get you a good alarm today as well. Tomorrow you're going to start getting up at five every morning."
"Five o'clock! Why?" Naruto's eyes had gone wide and his mouth dropped open comically.
"Because that's when Gai-sensei does extra taijutsu training with his student, Lee. You will be joining them every day we are in Konoha, is that understood?"
"You aren't going to train me?" He asked, sounding a little confused and disappointed.
"You will still train under me with the rest of the team at our normal meeting times. This is extra training. You'll be working with Maito Gai because he's one of the best taijutsu masters I know. He'll be able to show you things I can't necessarily do."
She took two steps before she realized Naruto had stopped dead in his tracks. "Aren't you my sensei?" he asked, perplexed.
"Yes, I am. Though you should probably call Gai 'sensei' as well. Despite what you may think, it's not a weakness to admit that someone else is better at something than you are. In many ways, it's a strength. Gai is the better person to teach you taijutsu… and I'll be showing his students the finer points of genjutsu. That's why shinobis work best in teams, Naruto. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Knowing how to use the abilities of your team to their best effect is the true test of a leader. Especially a Hokage. Do you understand?"
Naruto stared at her for a moment before he began to nod.
"Good. Then you will be reporting to Gai at training area twenty three every morning at six on days both his team and ours are in Konoha. I'll also give you some advance notice before I start working on genjutsus. His students will probably be joining us for those training sessions. Now… I want you to obey Gai's instructions when you are working with him, but otherwise you are still my student. Before you make any changes that extend outside your training sessions with Gai… I'd like you to check with me first, all right?" She didn't want to undermine Gai's authority, but she was not letting him dress her student up like a clone of himself. One Rock Lee was enough.
Naruto nodded, a little less sure of himself this time.
"Good. Did you bring your money?"
Naruto nodded and dug out a frog-shaped wallet that was stuffed to bursting with folded ryou notes. She blinked, a little impressed that he'd managed to save so much. But she supposed that wasn't so hard to do when few shop owners would have anything to do with him. "Then let's get to it. We have less than three hours before we have to meet the others."
They stopped for a quick lunch before heading over to training ground nineteen. By that time, Kurenai's headache still hadn't dissipated. The shopping itself didn't help. As she expected, she had to resort to some fairly vile threats to get the shopkeepers to cooperate. Even then she caught two of them deliberately over-charging the boy. The incredibly surprised look on the boy's face when she spoke up in his defense made it even harder for her to control her temper.
"I can refuse service to anyone I choose," a particularly sour old man grated, then spat on the ground in front of them.
"Naruto is a shinobi of the leaf. Is he given a choice about whether or not to defend you if the village is attacked?" she countered.
"You got no business threatening me. What were they thinking, making a silly girl a jonin?"
Kurenai locked gazes with the old man as the temperature inside the weapons shop seemed to drop twenty or thirty degrees. Even Naruto edged backward as the other customers fled. "This silly little girl is acting under the direct orders of the Hokage himself. That means I can do anything to you that I want, since you are acting against his wishes. I can send you on a thirty minute tour of the lowest level of Yomi. When I'm done with you, no one will even recognize you. Assuming, of course, that you're still sane. It would be a lot easier to just drive you mad and then take what we want… wouldn't it, Naruto?"
"Neh, Kurenai-sensei! I don't want anyone to say I am a thief!"
She couldn't tell if Naruto knew she was bluffing or not. This, of course, made the shopkeeper even more terrified. "You are lucky my student cares about his reputation. He's naïve enough to think a foolish old man like you might eventually learn his lesson and see him for who he is. You and I both know that will never happen. After all, you were idiotic enough to insult a jonin to her face, right?" She was laying it on a little thick, but the old baka had decided to play around with the wrong kunoichi this morning.
"Y-yes! I mean, no! I mean…" the old man was babbling in fear now. Even an extremely weak killing intent on her part had nearly broken him.
"Let's go Naruto. As stupid as this old man is, he's probably sharpened the handles of his Kunai instead of the points."
As they made their way to another shop, one run by the father of one of Gai's genins, she spoke quietly to her student. "You notice how fear and ignorance seem to run hand in hand in people? A person with one, usually has a good portion of the other, and as such is easily affected by genjutsu. He hates you, only because he is afraid, and his fear needs an outlet."
"Why are you telling me this, sensei?"
"Because of this… ignorance and cowardice will never be completely eradicated from the hearts of men. Even if you become Hokage, there will be some people who will still refuse to accept you. There are more than a few people in Konoha who do not accept the Sandaime, either." More than she would have thought before this morning anyway.
Naruto nodded slowly. His eyes may have dimmed a little, and she felt ashamed of herself for tarnishing his dreams, even if it would save him from future disappointment.
"That said," she continued, "what I did just now is not something to be done lightly. There was an element of bullying to how I treated that old man, and that is not something a shinobi should be doing."
"Then why did you do it?" he said, asking the obvious question.
"One, I wanted to demonstrate something for you. Two, he was acting directly against the will of the Hokage, which is criminal at best and treasonous at worst. Three, he insulted my gender."
"Gender?" Naruto asked. The boy was full of questions, but in some ways that made him easier to teach.
"Some people think that men are inherently superior to women."
Naruto just looked at her, obviously puzzled.
"Look, which of your teammates would you rather face in a serious fight?"
"Oh. Hinata, of course."
"What do you mean, 'of course'?" Kurenai asked in a deceptively mild tone.
"Well, Shino's bigger, and he hits harder."
"But wouldn't Hinata's Jyuuken hurt more?"
"Maybe, but I don't think she'd use it on a teammate."
Kurenai sighed. "All right then, outside our team. Say… would you rather face Sasuke or Sakura."
The boy visibly shuddered. "S-sasuke."
Kurenai stopped dead in her tracks. Naruto would rather face the Uchiha genius? Maybe he was still afraid of offending his crush… "Why is that?" she asked him.
"Sakura hits really, really hard when she's mad," Naruto whispered.
Okay, he is being objective after all, Kurenai mused, maybe there's hope for him after all. Asuma didn't do nearly as well.
On the way to the other weapon shop, she passed a tailor that had a banner on the front proclaiming their grand opening. She changed their itinerary on the spot, and was glad she did. The proprietor, a man named Ikitaro, had recently emigrated from Wave Country, hoping to make a new start after the economic depression there ruined his old business. As she hoped, the man knew nothing about Naruto's past, and was overjoyed that one of his first new customers would be a Konoha shinobi.
Ikitaro had some ideas that Kurenai liked, though she had a few suggestions, based on what she knew about Gai's training methods.
"Weights? Really? How heavily should those seams be reinforced then?" the young man asked.  

[Pandora Green]

Kurenai gave Naruto a speculative look. "I'd use the heaviest material you have, backed with thick leather for the seams and the inserts. His instructor tends to increase the load as they get used to it."
Naruto didn't sound too enthused at what she was suggesting… right up until she mentioned that it would make him faster and stronger than Sasuke. At that point he would have cheerfully agreed to being lit on fire.
Ikitaro didn't have any other customers yet, and he worked incredibly fast, altering some heavy clothes that were already close to the right size. When they were done, Naruto didn't have a scrap of orange left. He wore heavy trousers made of a dark green material, with a matching jacket. Both pieces were reversible, the lining being a neutral grey. The idea being that when he was traveling somewhere with little or no vegetation, the grey color would be less conspicuous. The knees and elbows were reinforced with quilted padding. Ikitaro also included, at her suggestion, a dark grey cloth that Naruto could wrap around his head and tuck under his hitai-ite to conceal his bright blond hair.
Under the jacket he wore a black t-shirt, and a shuriken holster was strapped to each thigh. A weapons pouch was attached to his belt on each hip as well. Kurenai noted that Naruto didn't really seem to favor either hand when he fought; some tasks he seemed to do right-handed and other things he did left-handed. He was more than likely ambidextrous, a rare and useful trait, especially for a shinobi. Not that anyone would bother to notice, she reflected bitterly, best not to make a big fuss about it. That would only drive home that no one paid attention before. They also purchased a large traveling backpack for him. Since Gai would almost certainly have him working with weights on his body like Lee, she decided that some of that extra weight might as well take the form of extra weapons and equipment. One day he might be called upon to carry a wounded teammate, just like she was… Kurenai ruthlessly severed that train of thought.
Naruto was oddly quiet as he looked at himself in the mirror. It was hard for her to tell at that angle, but he seemed to be frowning slightly. She stood directly behind him so he could see her face in the mirror as she nodded approvingly. "You look like a serious shinobi now."
He nodded, but still looked a little sad as he paid Ikitaro and stuffed his old jumpsuit into the backpack. The shopkeeper looked a little unsure about the change in his once-exuberant customer, but he still bowed and invited them back if Naruto needed any repairs or alterations.
"Is something the matter, Naruto?"
He shook his head. "I just feel… funny. When I look at myself in these clothes I get a weird feeling in my stomach, and I know it's not expired milk."
Kurenai was fairly sure she didn't want to know more about his last remark. "Maybe it's started sinking in, Naruto. You've graduated from the academy and become a genin. Soon, you will be doing missions, and some of them will be dangerous. Maybe the new clothes represent that seriousness?"
Naruto nodded slowly. "Is it okay to feel scared about that?"
"It would be stupid not to. Every shinobi who goes on a mission does so knowing that something might end their life. But life is all about risk, isn't it? So we work, and we train, and we do everything we can to be prepared for what comes. I'll do what I can to keep you three alive and safe, and you'll help me keep Shino and Hinata safe as well."
"What about them, sensei?"
"They will help me keep each other safe, and you as well."
"Then who keeps you safe?"
Kurenai smiled. "That's my job. There's a reason they send a jonin with each genin team, and it isn't just to make you behave."
Naruto scowled at this but didn't say anything.
As Kurenai hoped, the next weapon shop they visited had a more congenial proprietor. Once she mentioned that Naruto would be training under his daughter's sensei he was even friendlier.
"Tenten isn't here right now," he explained as he looked at Naruto speculatively. "Do you have a special weapon preference?" he asked.
Naruto shook his head. "Just kunais and shuriken."
The man nodded thoughtfully. "Probably better to get more of your full growth before your commit to something."
"Really?" Naruto looked at him in confusion.
The man nodded. "Unless you plan to train on a wide variety of weapons," he said, his proud smile unmistakable as he thought of his daughter, "it's best to see what size you are likely to end up at. Some weapons work better for relatively larger people, others work better for shinobi that are usually smaller than their opponents. Even a cut down tetsubo is less effective if you are smaller than everyone you fight. Similarly, trying to snare a much smaller and faster opponent with a manriki-gusari can be an exercise in frustration. Most shinobi your age just stick with kunai until they encounter something that really appeals to them."
Naruto nodded thoughtfully. Then he frowned. "What are a tetsubo and a manniki-gitari?"
The man made a face, and then laughed. "A tetsubo is an iron-shod club, made out of heavy oak and around six feet long. It's a very heavy weapon, but hits very hard. It requires good balance and lot of strength to use well. The manriki-gusari is a chain with a weighted handle on each end. It's tricky to use, but very handy for entangling opponents."
Kurenai spoke up before Naruto wore out his welcome. "He'll need two full sets of kunai and shuriken." The ones he'd used at the academy were dull and covered with nicks and gouges, evidently having been forged from inferior steel. He'd no doubt also paid a premium for them, given the way he was frowning at the prices on display.
"Do you carry exploding tags?" she asked before Naruto could ask why his prices were so low. She didn't want him seeking vengeance on the shopkeepers on his own. Her idea worked better than she thought as Naruto's head jerked up. She remembered Mattai talking about how 'men' always liked things that exploded and had to force herself to swallow.
"I just received a new case from the Sumijin. I, uh, tested one out back, just to be sure. It lit up precisely three seconds after my chakra triggered it, and produced a nice-sized fireball. Easily ten feet across."
Naruto's eyes lit up eagerly, and Kurenai had to restrain him from spending the rest of his money on the explosive ofuda. The magic word, of course, was 'Ramen', and a suggestion that he might want to save some money if the team were to get together after practice for an early dinner.
The mention of food also produced a low growl from the boy's stomach that was audible to everyone nearby. Naruto looked embarrassed, but the shopkeeper just laughed and recommended a nearby restaurant. "I remember what it was like when I was his age. I never thought I would stop being hungry!" Naruto chuckled at that and Kurenai decided she'd be sending the man all of her business in the future. The old goat with the shop near the Hokage's tower deserved to go out of business and starve.
Hinata's morning seemed to crawl by… much like the inchworm she watched as she sat in the garden. She'd slept poorly that night, too excited to relax. She couldn't believe her fortune at being placed on a team with Naruto-kun. The rest of the day had passed in a bit of a haze.
She knew she hadn't been properly focused during the taijutsu sparring. Shino managed to hold her off with no difficulty. Naruto too, was just as fast as she was, if a little less… precise in his movements. Ordinarily, she might have been a little worried about sparring with the boy she admired, wondering if he would grow impatient with her weakness. Instead, he seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, smiling as they exchanged blows, and sticking his lower lip out when she managed to connect. She tried not to pay attention when he did that, because she found his fake sulks adorable and squealing 'kwaii!' in the middle of taijutsu practice was not something a Hyuuga warrior was supposed to do.
The way Naruto enjoyed sparring, she wondered why he never joined in with the other kids after school when they gathered, sometimes with the parents supervising, for extra practice… and to show off a bit. She, of course, was not allowed to do such things, as her father would not approve. The secrets of Jyuuken, her family's 'Gentle Fist' taijutsu style, were not meant to be paraded around in front of 'commoners'. Hinata sometimes wondered who in the village, outside her family, were not considered commoners, but she hadn't built up the nerve to ask her father.
At least her duties as a shinobi were clear cut. If Kurenai-sensei wanted her to spar with her teammates, then she was right to do so. Father could not disapprove of her following a direct order… though sometimes she wondered.
Hinata had learned, at a young age, to be wary of the emotional states of others, and to read them as a means of self-defense. Her father was best avoided when he was angry or frustrated. Otherwise, the sight of her might remind him of her history of failures and he might decide to test her in some new way. She knew he was only trying to find some aspect of her life in which she wasn't a complete disappointment to him, but lately she was starting to wish he would just give up on her. It hurt too much to be given hope that she might somehow win his approval this time, only to have it brutally crushed out of her heart when she invariably failed again.
She knew her life was one long legacy of failures, but hopefully, if she trained hard, she might find some way to make a difference. Perhaps she could die bravely in a mission, like the heroine in a book she'd once read. That way at least her failures would be over and maybe in some way her death would mean something. Maybe if she did that well enough, her father might not regard her as a waste of a life.
She frowned as she recognized the downward spiral her thoughts had taken. This was happening more and more frequently of late, and she found it a little disturbing. Yet another thing that was going wrong with her. The other kunoichis didn't think like this, did they? What was wrong with her?
She pressed her fingers together as she scowled. What was she thinking about before being distracted by failures? Yes. Father could not disapprove of her following Kurenai-sensei's orders. They were drilled constantly on the laws of the shinobi at the Konoha Ninja Academy, and obedience to one's superior was paramount. This was so ingrained in the way of the shinobi that if her commander ordered her to do something that violated the laws of the village, then her commander would be responsible in the eyes of the law.
But she'd also sensed something between her father and Kurenai-sensei when she was sent to the academy. Something that she was almost too distracted by her mortification to notice. There was a tension there, one that was unexpected. Kurenai-sensei never took her eyes off of Otousan, and her father seemed to react toward her with greater disdain than he normally displayed toward a chuunin who was not a Hyuuga. Pondering that dynamic was less painful at the time than thinking about her father's words as he cast her away like refuse.
It was also diverting to think of his latest reactions to her news. Two nights ago, he'd stared at her when she announced that she had passed the genin examination. Then he asked her what her ranking in the class had been. She had been so happy to have passed that she didn't think to ask about the class rankings afterward. He scowled when she tried to explain this, saying in a cold voice that for a Hyuuga to pass as anything but the top of the class was a failure in and of itself. He'd seen the crop of rabble that they were admitting these days, and he was far from impressed. It should be simplicity itself for the Hyuuga heir to distinguish herself from the common dregs, if she would but try.
Hinata was embarrassed and ashamed that she hadn't anticipated her father's request. She had forgotten her family's place at the forefront of the village. Of course, merely passing would not be enough to earn his approval. After lunch yesterday, she'd asked Iruka-sensei in the hallway if she could know her ranking within the class. He'd looked at her for a long moment, then explained that such information was considered classified by the village. She started to explain why she wanted to know when Iruka suggested, in a kindly voice, that Hiashi-sama was more than welcome to meet with himself or any other academy instructor if he desired the details on her performance. At this, Hinata merely turned red and bowed, babbling apologies. She knew father would not waste time to come here in person to hear of her failures.
But his reaction the previous night was even stranger. He asked if she'd been assigned to a jonin for missions, or given some other duty. When she said she would be on a team under Yuuhi Kurenai, he went very still. She saw something dark flash behind his blank eyes and felt a sudden surge of terror. She'd never seen her father fight before. She'd been wrapped up in blankets when her father killed the kidnapper from Kumo. But now she'd seen a flash of his killer intent, and found it to be every bit as terrifying as she'd imagined.
As quickly as it appeared, it was gone. Then he asked who her teammates were. He didn't react to Aburame Shino, but when she mentioned Uzumaki Naruto… The dark fire behind his blank white eyes returned, but it was even stronger this time. His killing intent made what she felt earlier seem to be a mild flash of irritation. She asked if there was a problem, in a quavering voice that she hated herself for. He responded by ordering her to bathe and retire for the night. She wasn't that hungry for supper, but she was puzzled by his insistence that she cleanse herself. She ordinarily took a shower every morning, and she hadn't really worked up that much of a sweat during the day.
Now she wasn't to meet her new team until noon, so she woke up as early as she could and made her way to the garden after dressing. The garden had been her mother's pride and joy, according to the older servants, and it was seldom frequented in the mornings. As such, it had become a haven for her. Here she could sit and think. Here she could try and tease apart the nightmarish tangle of disappointments and failure her life had become.
She looked up at the sun, calculating that it was nearly eleven now. She rose from her mother's bench and slipped out of the Hyuuga compound.
Aburame Shino was not quite sure what to make of his team.
It was logical that he might be assigned to a reconnaissance team. His abilities were quite suitable for such a role. Shino was a great believer in logic.
He was also painfully aware that his belief in rationality placed him firmly in the minority among both his fellow shinobi and the residents of Konoha in general. He didn't really understand why he was surrounded by people who insisted on handling their affairs in such incredibly slipshod manners. They based the most important decisions of their lives on emotional, poorly thought out, and invariably fallacious reasoning. They mated, raised families, and began careers, all with no thought of the eventual outcomes.
Hives were much more intelligently run. Their goals were rather Spartan, but all the more straightforward because of that. Raise the young to continue the colony, locate and retrieve food to sustain the members, protect the queen so she can continue laying eggs. Simple, but logical. An insect hive's system of priorities was never skewed. Ego and emotions never coerced them into doing stupid things. He admired their focus and dedication to their goals.
For all of his own rationality and desire to maintain an objective focus, how did he end up in this situation? He was teamed up with two of the most emotional and erratic genins in his class. Uzumaki Naruto's abilities followed no sane progression. He failed his exam because he was singularly incapable of creating an acceptable bunshin. But yesterday, he was somehow a genin anyway, and furthermore capable of using the far more demanding Kage Bunshin technique.
There was something quite odd about the boy, something that ran far deeper than just being class clown at the academy. His kikai bugs were unusually wary of being too close to his body. Something about him smelled odd to them, but they couldn't really explain what it was. That alone would be cause for concern. Things that couldn't be easily categorized were invariably dangerous. The idea of the smiling, ramen-obsessed blond being dangerous was ludicrous, but the principle still held. He had a secret, and for a shinobi, secrets can kill.
On the other hand, Hyuuga Hinata was all too easy to comprehend. She had an obvious fixation on their teammate, Naruto. To give her credit, she seemed intelligent on other subjects, and seemingly every female her age was obsessed with at least one member of the male gender. Although Naruto was harder to comprehend in such a role than the Uchiha heir, it was just as irritating to have to deal with.
When he pointed out the obvious gaps in their array of skills, the kunoichi expressed an unswerving faith that the object of her affections would not let them down. She believed he would somehow magically acquire the skills that had eluded him throughout their years at the academy. While hard work could, in fact, make up for some deficits in ability, her avowal that Naruto would never let them down was nothing short of ridiculous.
The sheer irrationality of the situation left him looking somewhat askance at their jonin instructor. Yuuhi Kurenai was only recently promoted to the jonin rank, and this was to be her first team of genins. He found it hard to believe, however, that a genjutsu specialist with her reputation for intelligence would just pick her team out at random. There had to be some deeper reason for the three of them being thrown together like this. He was just damned if he could see it.
It wasn't like he had any choice, and that realization brought a frown to his face. One small enough, however, to remain hidden behind his sunglasses and jacket collar, which was good. One had to maintain appearances, after all. No matter how irritating the situation.
Naruto felt a bit odd in his new clothes. They were comfortable, of course, Ikitaro was extremely skillful. It was puzzling how he managed to lose his business in the Wave Country. Whatever that 'economic depression' thing was, it sounded pretty bad.
There was more than one reason for his uneasiness, despite what he'd told Kurenai. The other factor just took him longer to puzzle out. When people saw him, they didn't immediately recognize him anymore. In some ways this was disappointing. He wanted people to recognize him, Uzumaki Naruto, the village pariah. At the same time, it was… interesting to have them look at him with the neutral, vaguely respectful expressions they reserved for shinobi of the leaf that they didn't recognize. At least Ikitaro and that last weapon smith seemed to respect him as Naruto, even though Ikitaro had no way of knowing about his sealed prisoner.
Naruto kept his face carefully neutral as he walked with Kurenai-sensei and tried to work out how he felt about this. Some villagers eventually recognized his face as they approached. At this point many would glare as they did in the past. However, a few continued looking confused. Were they wondering what the clothes signified? Or were they starting to question their opinion of the shinobi wearing those clothes? Naruto struggled to maintain the sober expression that Kurenai-sensei called a 'game face' for some obscure reason. He wondered if he should ask her about the villagers' changing reactions as well.
It was a little unnerving, how wise his jonin instructor was. He'd never encountered someone who spent so much time thinking about the reasons behind things. At least, he'd never encountered someone who thought so much about those things – and was willing to share that information with him as well. He'd probably spent more time thinking and less time talking in the last twenty-four hours than in any day of his life. He didn't understand why she spent so much time explaining things.
She said that it was important for him to understand, so that made it part of her job. But that would apply to the academy instructors as well, wouldn't it? Until his last year, when he was assigned to Iruka-sensei's class, he'd never had an instructor who would simply answer any of his questions. Some were sarcastic or abusive when he raised his hand, wanting to know why he couldn't understand something so simple. This would usually get a laugh from his classmates at Naruto's expense. The really cold ones just ignored him when he raised his hand, looking through him like he wasn't there. Those were the worst, and fueled his determination to become a prankster. If they wanted to ignore him, then they would pay the price.
Naruto took a deep breath as they approached training area nineteen. Kurenai-sensei had explained as they ate lunch that he would be far too busy to do many pranks. Naruto wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. He'd had some fun over the past couple of years, and enjoyed the grudging respect he'd earned from the few people who could appreciate his artistry. He would miss planning and executing one of his stunts, not to mention the wild chases that inevitably followed. On the other hand, his pranks were usually committed out of boredom, which was anathema to him… and Kurenai-sensei promised that he would have no time to become bored.
It was also oddly rankling how she said that she didn't want him causing trouble now that he was on her team. He'd lived on his own for years now, with no one bossing him around. Now his jonin instructor was laying down the law and restricting what he could do, even during his free time. However… he wasn't just upset about this. She also said that his misbehavior could reflect poorly on his team as well as herself. When she said that "I don't want to have to explain to Hokage-sama why one of my genins still has enough free time to deface the monument," he felt his stomach contract like he'd been hit. Her genins. His team. He'd never really had anyone claim him like that before. It was an alarming and comforting sensation, all at the same time.
No one had ever described Naruto as 'theirs' before, not in any way that counted. His acceptance at the Konoha Ninja Academy was grudging at best, and he suspected that Hokage-sama had something to do with it. After all, the old man was the first person to even ask him if he wanted to train as a shinobi.
But Kurenai-sensei freely described him as 'her student', even when talking to villagers that obviously hated him. Hinata didn't seem to be disappointed about teaming with the 'dead last'. Neither did Shino, though it was hard to tell with those dark glasses he wore over his expressionless face.
Kurenai also said she was depending on him… depending on him to help keep his teammates safe. No one had ever said anything like that to him before. The responsibility it implied was a little frightening. But at the same time, he wanted to shout about it from the roof-tops. The latter feeling surprised him.
Uzumaki Naruto was not known for his introspective capabilities. He'd gotten through twelve difficult years operating by the seat of his pants, but Kurenai-sensei had demonstrated at Moritake's just how powerful her intuition was when it was bolstered by some hard thinking. It was with this in mind that he tried to tease apart his own feelings. It took a surprisingly short amount of time for him to arrive at an answer.
He'd been acknowledged.
In the space of twenty four hours, Naruto had been acknowledged by no less than four people. First Iruka, who he'd gotten to know over his last year at the academy. Even after suffering the loss of his family to the Kyuubi, he still saw Naruto as a lonely boy, much like himself, rather than the demon kitsune.
More surprising was the jonin who'd asked for him to be included on her team, valuing his skill with Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. She didn't know him, but she still saw value in him as a person and a shinobi. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that the errands they'd run that morning were a normal part of a jonin instructor's responsibilities.
His teammates had also accepted him to some extent as well. They didn't sneer yesterday when he was beaten during their impromptu sparring matches. In fact, he even noticed Hinata smiling when he bounced off the tree and actually got inside Shino's guard for once. Shino didn't get angry when Naruto actually scored on him. He just nodded silently and went back into a ready position.
As far as Naruto could remember, neither of them had laughed or sneered at him while they were at the academy, which already put them in the clear minority.
Naruto's thoughts stumbled over each other as he pondered this realization. He remembered what his sensei had said about Team 10. Most of the leaf shinobi also knew their famous fathers, the previous Nara-Akimichi-Yamanaka team, and how they were still friends (and drinking buddies) to this day. Naruto wondered if they conspired to have their children at roughly the same time, just to ensure they'd have the chance to work together as genin like their fathers. Would his team become as close? Was that normal for genins who undertook missions together?
For Naruto, who'd never really had any friends his own age, that idea struck him like a thunderbolt, almost making him stumble and fall. Would Shino and Hinata become his friends, as well as teammates? Given what he knew, it seemed almost inevitable, didn't it?
Then Naruto was struck by a sudden chill. Well, perhaps not inevitable. There was another possible fate that awaited every genin team. Despite the presence of jonin instructors and the limitations on what missions they could take, there was always the possible fate that awaited any shinobi on a mission. Bad luck and treachery could circumvent any safeguards, and jonins were not infallible. Sometimes genins did not come back from their missions. Naruto also heard that many died during the difficult tests for chuunin rank. Sometimes they made it back, but with injuries that forced them to seek a different vocation. Any way you sliced it, being a professional shinobi was not a safe profession.
Oddly enough, given how short a time he'd had them, the thought of losing his teammates sent a chill right through Naruto's heart. He knew that at this point he was dreading the loss of a potential friend more than the real thing, but it stung nonetheless. He knew Kurenai-sensei would do everything in her power to prevent that, but again, she was still only human.
Then he remembered what she'd said earlier. "…and you'll help me keep Shino and Hinata safe as well," were her words. Naruto's jaw tightened and he felt unaccountably angry, almost… fierce. He found himself gritting his teeth and curling his hands into fists as they approached the training area.
For someone who'd been alone all his life, Kurenai-sensei, Shino, and Hinata had joined Iruka-sensei as representatives of something that was more precious than gold. Anyone trying to hurt his precious people would do so only after stepping over his dead body.
Yuuhi Kurenai couldn't completely suppress a grim smile as she felt the killing intent literally exploding from within her student. It had been fascinating to subtly observe the play of emotions across his face as they walked to the training area to meet with the others. She'd have to teach him how to hide his emotions better when he was brooding, because the direction of his thoughts had been almost embarrassingly obvious to her. Asuma and the Nara boy would clean out his pockets if they could lure him into a game or three.
But now he seemed to have connected the dots that she'd presented him with, and his obvious determination confirmed that she'd picked wisely. She didn't know if having a potential heavy combat specialist on their team would have saved Mattai and the others, but it couldn't hurt. Especially given how motivated Naruto seemed to be.
He was oblivious to the reactions of the others, hands fisted at his sides and glaring down at the street. But the villagers definitely noticed the murderous aura radiating from the boy like a bonfire. Many of them turned away from him before his presence even registered. The ones that hadn't yet recognized Naruto were quietly respectful; the ones that recognized the Kyuubi's jailor looked terrified. As well they might, Kurenai reflected angrily, given the way he's been treated.
Nonetheless, she carefully placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. His head snapped around, glaring, but his features immediately softened when he saw her. He nodded without saying a word and smiled.
She knew the boy was strong willed. He'd have to be to have endured the treatment of the villagers without breaking down or lashing out. But until now, she'd never had an objective demonstration of it. It took considerable force of will to generate a psychic atmosphere capable of intimidating without words. Especially without eye contact. But the short blond had gone from smiling prankster to enraged killer in the blink of an eye, to an extent that even Ibiki-san would have taken note of.
More and more the boy seemed to be a diamond in the rough, just waiting for a hand patient enough to polish it to gleaming perfection. Maybe her analogy was a little off… her true task was more to sharpen him into a diamond-edged weapon, one capable of helping her reach a goal she'd set years ago.  

[Pandora Green]

Chapter 3
Hinata was the first to arrive at training area nineteen. She'd left home earlier than strictly necessary, but she was happy to be out of the Hyuuga compound. It was, she supposed, somewhat shameful that she felt happier away from her ancestral home. She knew that her father would see that as a demeaning lack of pride in her heritage. Hinata sometimes wondered what her mother would think, if she were still alive.
Shino arrived a few minutes later. The Aburame boy was quiet, merely nodding to her when she greeted him. At first Hinata wondered if he was angry with her for disagreeing with him at lunch yesterday. But as she watched him examine the base of one of the trees, she remembered how quiet he had been at the academy. Perhaps he just didn't have anything to say.
Kurenai arrived with another boy, and it took a moment for Hinata to recognize Naruto without the orange jumpsuit that had been his trademark over the last couple of years. He was frowning; making Hinata wondered what was wrong. Naruto was always smiling and joking, and for him to appear so grim…
As they approached, Kurenai-sensei put her hand on his shoulder and said something too quiet to hear. Naruto nodded and shook himself, like a dog with wet fur, and then he straightened up and let out a sigh. Naruto grinned at everyone and she felt her face begin to flush again.
"I'm glad to see you all got here early," Kurenai called out as they walked up. "Punctuality is important for what we do… or rather, being too late can be fatal."
Hinata felt her stomach tighten at the jonin's grim words, but tried not to let her fear show. Father would be mortified that any Hyuuga, let alone his own daughter, would show fear before others. Not that Hinata had done that well at abiding by her father's wishes.
Shino didn't visibly react to their sensei's words. Instead, he just continued to look at her through his ever-present dark glasses. Hinata envied his reserve.
Hinata did not know quite what to make of Naruto's new uniform. He looked rather good in it, she had to admit. It was also certainly more practical, but his orange jumpsuit had become such a part of him that it seemed strange to see him without it. The quiet way he approached with Kurenai-sensei was also at odds with his normal behavior. All of this made Hinata concerned for her teammate. She liked the Naruto that always smiled and tried again, and she didn't want to see that change.
As she became more upset, a sudden thought gave her pause. She liked the loud, brassy Naruto, but did he necessarily like it himself? He'd looked so dejected after the Genin exam, and her mind wandered back to other times that he'd been down. Were those truly the only times he'd been upset – or were they the only times he let it show?
Reading people was a high art among the Hyuugas, ever since one of her clan leader ancestors took his Byakugan to a new level. Hinaro-san was the first to actively read a person's intentions from the tension in their bodies and the way they moved. The observations he made were said to be devastatingly accurate, and the Fire Lord often hired him to evaluate his courtiers and to aid his spymaster in weeding out the disloyal. His eyes were said to be acute enough to detect variations in a shinobi's pulse rate by observing the vibrations in the skin over their carotid arteries. There is even a rumor that fear of this formidable skill was what led the Hatake family to begin wearing their traditional masks.
As with most of her family's arts, Hinata was not very adept with body reading. She could see the disappointment and resentment that festered in the eyes of the clan elders, but they also didn't bother to conceal their feelings. Her cousin Neji, on the other hand, was said to be able to see things that the adults wished to keep unnoticed. From most people, Hinata could merely guess at their mental state.
However, she had also spent a long time studying Naruto. She was no expert on his mercurial moods, but as she watched him approach, she didn't get a sense of sadness or anger from him. He was just… reserved, in an odd way.
At the same time, he also seemed very focused. When Kurenai-sensei spoke, Naruto took in every word. Not even Iruka-sensei at his angriest could command so much of Naruto's attention. Hinata found herself respecting the jonin even more now, though she wondered what she had said or done to Naruto to earn such respect.
Her curiosity became even stronger when the woman reached into the pouch at her waist and removed a pair of scrolls. She handed one to Shino and the other to Hinata. "These are some exercises I'd like you to perform on your own, outside of our team meetings. They are mostly speed and endurance-building exercises, though there are also activities that should build up your chakra capacity and control."
Hinata carefully placed the scroll in her weapons pouch. "Ano, sensei, uh… what will we be doing during team meetings?" Despite Kurenai-sensei's kindly demeanor, Hinata still found it embarrassingly difficult to speak out or ask questions.
"That's a good question, Hinata," Kurenai replied evenly. "I'd like this time to be spent working on things that would benefit from us all being together. For the speed and endurance training, I will leave it to each of you to make sure you are pushing yourselves as hard as you can. Remember, it won't just be you paying the penalty if you don't. But a team also needs to learn how to fight together. Sparring will let you test and improve your skills against one another, and it will also let you come to understand each others' fighting styles. From what I saw yesterday, they are quite different."
Kurenai smiled, perhaps a little grimly. "That knowledge will prove very useful when you fight together as a team. You will know how your teammates will react and be able to move with them smoothly to counter any threats. A well-trained shinobi team can move together like a well-oiled machine, and becomes much more effective than just the sum of its members. We call this extra bonus 'synergy'."
Hinata nodded slowly. She vaguely remembered something about that concept from lessons at the academy last year. Naruto frowned thoughtfully but didn't say anything.
With that, Kurenai put them to work. "We'll start with just taijutsu today. No other techniques for right now. Just hand to hand. Hinata, why don't you and Naruto start? Light contact only."
Hinata was a little nervous about sparring with Naruto first thing, but tried to control her reactions. Sensei was right, she needed to know her teammates as well as she knew herself.
Naruto moved a little stiffly at first, perhaps because of his new clothes. Hinata activated her Byakugan so she could see his Tenketsu points, but she didn't push any chakra out of her palms as she struck. This way she could tell if she struck true, which wasn't as often as she liked, but didn't disable her teammate.
Naruto jolted back on his heels when her palm slipped around his block and struck him flat on the chest. He smiled ruefully at her and shook his head. Her stomach gave an odd wobble as he dropped back into a ready stance. Naruto didn't seem to be upset that she'd scored on him. In fact, his look was almost… approving.
That thought made her falter and she almost missed a block. Naruto, of course, was pulling his punches at the last instant; neither of them was out to hurt the other. Nonetheless, his knuckles still jarred her shoulder.
Mortified at her slip, Hinata grabbed his sleeve, wrapping her fingers around his arm just above the wrist. She brought her other hand in low, aiming for the Tenketsu point right above the hara, between the navel and diaphragm.
Naruto twisted backwards to avoid the blow, but her hold on his arm limited his motion. Naruto purposefully fell backwards. Hinata let go of his arm so she could chamber a kick, but then realized that he had a handful of her jacket clenched in his fist now.
Her unpredictable teammate rolled onto his back, pulling his knees up to his chest, and Hinata was yanked forward off her feet. He let go of her shoulder as her stomach came to rest on his sandals. Hinata barely saw the pleased grin on his face before she was launched into the air.
Hinata found herself upside down, flying backwards through the air. She curled up to speed her rotation, and managed to get her feet under her before she landed, her back to Naruto.
"Good recoveries, both of you," Kurenai said, and with the Byakugan still active, Hinata could see her smiling without having to turn her head. She was embarrassed at her slip, and could see her father's disapproving glare in her mind, but no one here seemed to notice or care.
Nonetheless, Naruto seemed a bit more focused when they resumed their match. His attacks sped up and became more fluid, and Hinata had to fully focus her concentration to block him. Every time she blocked one of his punches or kicks, his grin became a little wider, and Hinata found herself smiling a little as well. He really should have participated in the after class sparring, she mused as she ducked under a looping roundhouse kick. She swept his supporting leg, but Naruto twisted sideways with the motion and landed in a hand stand. His waist twisted and the foot she'd swept came arcing towards her face. She leaned back to avoid it, and as it passed she struck the back of his calf with the heel of her hand.
This sent Naruto's lower body off-balance to the left. He should have fallen to the ground, but he'd anticipated this and flexed his elbows, throwing his upper body into the air even as his legs rotated to the ground. He ended up on his feet in a comically wide stance, but the rotation brought his upper half in close to Hinata and his left hand came up inside her guard. She tried to flinch back from the fist rising toward her jaw, but it was too late. She closed her eyes and felt her head jolt.
Instead of the expected pain of impact, her chin felt very warm. She opened her eyes, realizing that she'd dropped her Byakugan in her surprise. Naruto's hand was wrapped around the point of her chin, his fingers warm on her cheeks.
"Gotcha!" he said, chuckling happily. He withdrew his hand as she blinked at him. "I was moving too fast to be sure, so I opened my hand." He frowned. "It didn't hurt, did it?"
Hinata shook her head, not trusting her voice. She knew she was blushing, but also realized that her whole face was red from exertion, so it hopefully did not show. In fact, she was dripping with sweat and it was becoming difficult to keep her arms from trembling. Naruto's face was a little flushed, but that was it. She was a little disturbed that he wasn't even breathing very hard.
"Very good, both of you," Kurenai-sensei called out. "Adaptation, Improvisation. But your weaknesses are not your techniques. Experience will only improve you both."
Kurenai sparred with Shino next, to give them a breather. Predictably, her Sensei was noticeably faster and stronger than Shino. Hinata's attention, however, was focused more on the blond sitting on the grass next to her. He didn't even look like he'd been exercising now, and she wondered if he'd just been playing with her while they were sparring. I should have known I wasn't really that good, she mused reproachfully as she pressed her forefingers together.
She was jolted out of her thoughts by Naruto's elbow. "All those palm strikes were times you would have used chakra to shut me down?" he asked her.
Hinata nodded silently. Aside from Kurenai explaining the reasons why they trained together, it wasn't that like Jyuuken was that big a secret. Her family's famous techniques were described, in a general fashion, during the History lectures at the Konoha Ninja Academy.
Naruto rubbed at the back of his head. "Then I guess I got you twice and you would have demolished me at least a dozen. That's pretty good!"
Hinata turned and stared at the boy, but he didn't seem to be mocking her.
Kurenai smiled as she put Shino through the wringer. The boy was a little larger and physically stronger than his teammates, and for the most part he hadn't been challenged that much the day before. She had a feeling that the boy was actually a bit more talented than he let on. As reserved as the boy's father had been, she realized that she shouldn't be surprised that his son would treat the academy like an infiltration assignment.
In the back of her mind, Kurenai again wondered at how clueless the academy examiners seemed to be. If we are teaching children to be shinobi, she mused, then why should we expect straightforward tests of their abilities to be accurate? Some students would excel at those of course. The Uchiha boy, Sasuke, seemed to have something to prove, so he would of course push himself to become the top of his class.
But those might prove to be the exceptions.
She'd stayed after the meeting where the Genins were assigned and grilled Iruka for everything he could tell her about his charges. The chuunin was a little disconcerted by her attention, but gratified that she was actually interested in his observations, as well as the examination grades. In those, Shino was said to be merely average at taijutsu. He was more than capable of defeating someone without training, but was barely above the bottom third of his class at the academy.
But now, placed on the spot against a superior opponent, the boy was executing blocks and counters at a level of proficiency approaching that of a chuunin. "You've been holding out on us," she accused as she drove a spear-hand strike at his mid-section. He silently blocked with the edge of his wrist and sent a back-fist strike against her temple. Kurenai stepped into it and blocked with her forearm. She brought up an unnoticed knee and tapped Shino in the stomach.
He nodded, acknowledging her point, and stepped back into a ready stance again.
She sent a kick at his midsection, but when he went to block, she pulled her foot back, re-chambered the kick, and launched it again at his head. He ducked his head, but her heel clipped his shoulder on the way down. Shino drove two fingers into the hollow of her knee and she barely managed to pull her leg back before his nerve strike numbed it.
"You didn't learn that at the academy," she observed as he deflected a ridge-hand strike she aimed at his floating ribs. "Extra training with your family?" she asked as she blocked his counterstrike at her stomach.
Shino pushed back against her block and his feet slipped backwards a few inches on the grass. That evidently was his aim as that motion gave him enough room to bring his foot up and kick. She caught his ankle between her palms and gave his leg a sharp twist. He leapt upward and retracted his leg, pulling himself closer for a knife-hand strike at her face. The move was unexpected and well-timed, and she barely pulled her head back in time to avoid it. As it was, his fingertips ghosted across the skin of her forehead. She used her grip on his ankle to throw him back and he somersaulted backwards once before rolling onto his feet and rising into a low crouch.
"Very good, Shino," Kurenai said approvingly. "But if you wish to remain on this team, you will not hold back during our training sessions. I can understand your caution within the academy, but there should be no secrets between teammates." She saw Naruto give a guilty start out of the corner of her eye and knew he'd gotten the message as well.
Shino merely nodded at this, which she accepted with good grace. She'd get him talking. Eventually… Maybe.
After that, Naruto sparred with Shino, and had a noticeably harder time landing a hit than he did the day before. Kurenai also took the opportunity to work with Hinata on her blocking techniques. Kobaru-sensei had done the same for her, many years ago. There were ways to angle the arms and legs that increased one's leverage. These modified blocks were not taught at the Konoha Ninja Academy because they required superior speed and timing to execute properly. For an agile kunoichi who possessed less upper-body strength than her male counterparts, however, they were ideal.
Hinata took to the techniques avidly, and Kurenai could tell she was flattered to be getting any individual instruction at all. If she didn't already despise Hiashi, the Hyuuga girl's reactions would drive her to do so. When she explained why she was showing the girl the alternate techniques, Hinata just nodded thoughtfully. Kurenai was embarrassed to remember how she had given Kobaru a very hard time about his insinuation that she was weaker than Mattai or Nomaru.
After about half an hour of this, switching off sparring partners every few minutes, Kurenai found all of her genins to be somewhat worse for the wear. Naruto's new uniform was covered with dust and bits of grass from all the times he'd been knocked down. At the same time, he was also smiling broadly as he helped Hinata, who'd slipped to one knee after successfully blocking his last kick. The Hyuuga girl was red-faced and barely able to stand, and Shino's chest moved rapidly enough to inform his teacher that he was breathing hard.
"All right, that's a good start. We can walk to cool down and let our muscles relax. I can tell we definitely need to work on endurance training. Make sure you follow the exercises I gave you, and ask me if anything is unclear." With that, she led them out of the training area and through the outskirts of the village.
The villagers they passed had very different reactions to the genins placed in her charge. Hinata's eyes and unadorned forehead marked her as a member of one of Konoha's oldest and most powerful families. People who didn't know her gave her at least a respectful nod, and she returned those she noticed.
Shino's clothing and glasses marked him as an Aburame, and most people gave him a wide berth. A few glanced downward at their arms and legs, as if to make sure a bug hadn't crawled up onto them. Kurenai did have to wonder how commonplace it was for a member of Shino's clan to 'tag' the people around them with the scent-producing female kikai bugs. The one she'd worked with explained that it helped him differentiate his teammates to the 'allies' he'd stationed on guard duty. It also proved useful when a member of their team had been ambushed and wounded, and they needed to find him quickly. Of course, that didn't mean she was comfortable with the idea of someone ordering a bug to crawl onto her body and hide itself. She'd probably need to talk to Shino about that the next time she could speak to him alone.
While Shino seemed either uninterested or unperturbed by the villagers' reactions, the same could not be said of Naruto. Maybe it was his acceptance by Iruka; maybe it was her own agreement that his treatment was unjustified. In any event, as Naruto received his normal allotment of angry glares and muttered oaths, he began to glare back. Soon he was walking with his hands fisted at his sides, on legs stiff with anger and resentment.
Privately, Kurenai wondered if this wasn't a healthier attitude for him than his previous denial. At the same time, it wouldn't do for him to get into an altercation with random villagers. She resolved to let him work through his feelings on his own, but keep a close eye on him and offer advice if asked.
By the time they'd arrived at the Hokage's tower, everyone appeared to have recovered from the sparring. She led them up the stairs to the top floor, and told the chuunins on duty that they were "Team 8 reporting for assignment". At her words, she noticed Naruto straighten his posture with pride, and even Hinata stopped looking downward for a moment.
The Sandaime looked pleased to see them, and his eyes seemed to linger on Naruto's new clothes. His eyes then met hers, and she couldn't suppress a mild blush at the approval she saw in them.
"You're just in time, jonin Kurenai," the Hokage said. "We still have a few D-rank missions left." Kurenai inclined her head respectfully as the old man shuffled through a stack of papers on his desk. "There we are," he said, pulling one out. "I need you to report to Herbalist Yukitaza in the western district, near the river. He suffered a broken leg last week while working on his roof and needs some help."
Kurenai led her students down to the exit, trying not to laugh at the confusion on Naruto's face, and echoed somewhat on Hinata's. "As a new genin team," she began before they even had a chance to ask her, "you will be assigned D-rank missions until you have completed a good number of them." She specifically avoided saying how many, because she wanted to have the option of delaying their first C-rank mission until she was sure they were ready.
"D-rank missions," she continued, "are judged to be little or no threat, and should rarely, if ever, involve travel beyond the outer walls of Konoha. They are tasks that still need doing, will give you all an opportunity to practice working together, and will supply you with a little pocket money when you are done."
She paused on a street corner while they digested this. Naruto still looked a little rebellious, but resigned to his fate. She stepped up the pace a little as they made their way to the western quarter of the village. When she rang the bell at the door of the house described in the mission briefing, a voice called out for them to come around to the rear deck.
Herbalist Yukitaza proved to be a middle-aged unmarried man with a large cast on his left leg. He made a short double-take when he recognized Naruto, but didn't react in any other way.
Soon, Kurenai and Shino were working on the roof repairs, the Aburame boy having reluctantly mentioned helping his father perform a similar task last winter. Hinata and Naruto were put to work weeding the client's large garden plot, a task better suited to their smaller statures.
They'd been working for a few minutes when Kurenai was startled to realize that it was Naruto carrying the next load of wood up the ladder. She looked over at Shino, who just shrugged.
"Naruto," she said puzzled, "I thought you were going to help Hinata with the garden?"
Naruto grunted and laid the boards down on the shallow pitched roof. "There wasn't enough room," he said.
Kurenai frowned and looked out over the back yard. Hinata was working on the garden plot, along with about twenty Narutos.
Kurenai turned back to Naruto. "They can all work independently?" she asked. Bunshins were usually only capable of limited thought, following simple and straightforward commands.
Naruto shrugged. "Why shouldn't they?" he asked.
Kurenai wasn't quite sure how to answer that question. Naruto shook his head and turned to go back down the ladder. Unfortunately, he evidently forgot about the stack of boards he'd just put down, because he tripped over them and tumbled off the roof.
Kurenai lunged forward, hoping to catch the boy, but it was too late. She reached the edge of the roof just as Naruto hit the ground… and disappeared in a puff of smoke. She stopped, staring at the vapors that rapidly dissipated. I was talking to one of his Bunshin and didn't even realize it, she mused. What the hell is that boy? She looked out at the garden, where Hinata had just grabbed Naruto's arm to prevent him from pulling up a plant that wasn't a weed. He scratched at the back of his head, embarrassed, not even noticing how Hinata pulled her hands back from his arm like they were burned. Not did he notice her blush, for all that it was brighter than his own. He's Uzumaki Naruto, Kurenai reminded herself ruefully, and he breaks the rules without even realizing it.
Naruto and Hinata finished the garden in less than twenty minutes, with a clone starting at both ends of each row and Hinata using her Byakugan to supervise. With her ability to look in all directions at once, she could see if he missed anything or was about to pull something that wasn't a weed. The latter happened a little more often than Naruto would have liked, but Hinata didn't tease him about it. In fact, she seemed to worry that she wasn't doing her fair share of the work.
Naruto wasn't any expert on girls, or kunoichi, by any stretch of the imagination. But he suspected that most of his female classmates would have been glad of an excuse to not get their hands dirty, rather than worrying that they weren't doing enough. He tried to tell Hinata that he appreciated her attitude, but when the words came out of his mouth it sounded more like "I like how you're like a boy, instead of a girl" and she became very upset and then confused when he tried to explain.
"I mean, you're not like Sakura or Ino," he said quickly.
Hinata ducked her head down and looked even sadder. "I- I know," she said hesitantly.
"But that's a good thing," Naruto said quickly. Did she like Sakura and Ino? He wondered. I don't remember ever seeing them talk, but they are all girls – they're like some secret society.
"I-it is?" she asked. Her forefingers were pressed together so hard that the skin had turned white.
"I – I mean, they are nice and all… I'm not saying they are ugly or anything," Naruto added quickly. If they were all friends and it got back to those two that he said they were ugly, genin or not, he was a dead shinobi.
Hinata frowned, perplexed. "A-ano… I…" she swallowed. "Naruto-kun, I don't understand what you mean."
"I'm just saying… well… I'm glad you're on my team," Naruto said firmly. There. No one could interpret anything bad out of that, right?
Hinata stiffened like she'd been slapped, then quickly turned away.
Naruto's mouth dropped open. He started to step around her to ask what he'd said when she pointed at one of his clones.
"S-stop. He's about to pull a good plant," she said in a choked voice.
Naruto whirled toward the offending clone. "You heard her," he barked.
"Take it easy, baka," the clone said. "You're acting like she's your girlfriend or something."
An instant later the clone disappeared as Naruto's fist transited through the space its head once occupied. "S-sorry," he apologized. "Sometimes they get a little smart-mouthed when they know their time is almost up."
"We a-appear to be almost done, Naruto," Hinata said in a quiet voice, still not facing him. "I will go inside and help Yukitaza-san with the kitchen."
Naruto glared at the remaining Bunshin as Hinata silently walked toward the house. All of them stayed bent over, peering carefully at the ground as they finished the weeding.
After finishing outside, Naruto went indoors to help with the cleaning. Hinata was silent as he passed through the kitchen, very intently focused on dicing up some vegetables Herbalist Yukitaza had delivered earlier that day. After locating the cleaning supplies, Naruto created another set of clones and put them to work tidying up. Fortunately, this was something he knew quite well how to do, having had to clean up his own apartment for years. He finished as Kurenai and Shino came down from the roof. Naruto sent his clones out to put away the tools and the ladders.
Hinata was still busy in the kitchen, so Naruto and Shino were sent to make some deliveries to their client's customers. Kurenai-sensei decided she would help Hinata finish. She gave Naruto a piercing look as she announced this, and he felt the back of his neck grow hot.
As he ran down the street with a small bundle of herbs, Naruto tried to figure out what he'd done wrong. It wasn't like he'd asked the stupid Bunshin to mouth off. Maybe Hinata thought it was saying something Naruto was thinking, and that was why she'd been offended. It sort of made sense in a way. Sakura always hit him soon after he'd asked her out. Naruto realized that his attempts to be friendly with her seemed to always make her angry at him. Maybe it was something about him, maybe it was some aura given off by that b*****d fox. Perhaps it was a side-effect of the seal used to imprison his unwanted tenant. Maybe a seal strong enough to repel a demon would also repel any girls he came into contact with as well.
He scowled as he knocked on the door of his bundle's destination. An old woman opened it and Naruto handed her the package before she had a chance to realize who he was. "This is from Herbalist Yukitaza. He broke his leg and can't make his own deliveries today." With that, he spun and was halfway back to the street before the woman had a chance to speak.
Naruto stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets as he made his way back to the Herbalist's newly cleaned and repaired house. It was bad enough how people hated him for something that happened the day he was born, but now he was pissing off everyone else – even when he was trying to be nice.
When he returned to the house, Hinata and Kurenai had finished up in the kitchen. With the deliveries made, the last tasks for their 'mission' were completed. The Herbalist thanked them for their help, and even looked Naruto in the eye, which impressed him a little.
"Not quite an hour and a half," Kurenai said after they made their goodbyes. "That was very quick. Good use of your Bunshins, Naruto, and coordinating with Hinata to make sure there were no problems. I'm very pleased with your teamwork, both of you."
Naruto felt the knot of resentment in his middle loosen a bit. Hinata's reaction, however, caught his eye. She looked down, pushing her fingers together as her cheeks turned red. When she noticed him staring, she turned completely away. He frowned and let out a sigh. Evidently she was still mad at him or something.
As they made their way back toward the center of the village, Kurenai peered up at the afternoon sun. "At this point, I doubt the Hokage has any missions left to give out. Let's get together a little earlier tomorrow. If we work as fast as we did today, we can probably clear two missions a day. I'll see you all at the training ground at ten, all right?"  

[Pandora Green]

Everyone nodded, and then Kurenai pulled some slips of paper from her pouch. "A friend of mine gave these to me, but I have something I need to do tonight, so I thought you three could use them." She handed one to each of her genins.
It was a coupon for Ichiraku, good for a large bowl at half price. Naruto's stomach rumbled, but the way things were going he thought he'd rather eat alone.
"Thank you, Sensei," he said, though he imagined his voice sounded a little subdued. His team-mates echoed his thanks, though he noticed Shino looking at him a little oddly.
Naruto also felt his sensei's eyes boring into him. "Well, you'd better get going before the dinner rush starts," she said. "You probably shouldn't stay out too late. Oh, before you go, Naruto, I needed to talk to you about your taijutsu training. You can catch up with the others."
Naruto let out a quiet sigh as Shino and Hinata headed off to Ichiraku's.
"Okay Naruto," Kurenai said. "I need you to let Gai know tomorrow morning that I'll be working with you all on genjutsu recognition week after next. He can send Tenten and Lee over to training area nineteen at noon, so they can participate. Got that?"
Naruto nodded and repeated back the relevant details.
"Good," Kurenai said, nodding her approval. "Now, would you like to explain why you are less than enthusiastic about sharing a meal with your team-mates?"
Naruto rubbed at the back of his neck. "I seem to have annoyed them at some point today."
"Shino seems to be acting normally towards you," Kurenai observed.
Naruto stayed silent.
"So it's Hinata," she surmised. "Did this happen after you paid her some complement?"
Naruto's mouth stayed shut, but his head betrayed him by giving a quick nod.
"I see," Kurenai said. She gazed down at him for several moments. "It probably isn't my place to say anything," she finally spoke, "but I've noticed that she doesn't always know what to do when someone says something positive about her. I wouldn't take it too personally, Naruto."
"Why is that?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.
Kurenai shook her head. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
Naruto opened his mouth, and then closed it. It was obvious to him that Kurenai-sensei knew more than she was saying, but she wanted him to find out for himself. "Why are you making such a mystery out of things?"
Kurenai looked down at him and gave a faint smile. "I know things about you that you would probably prefer that I keep to myself. Please extend your team-mates the same courtesy."
Naruto's stomach lurched when the meaning of her words sunk in. "G-gomen," he said quickly.
Kurenai sighed and shook her head. "No need to apologize, Naruto. You are still learning how a team works, and what a sensei does for their students. Just keep in mind that I'm probably helping other people in ways similar to how I help you." She cocked her head, frowning, as the afternoon light glistened on her mane of black hair. "Naruto, this is usually hard for someone your age to really understand, but keep in mind that not everything that happens around you is about you."
Naruto frowned and scratched the side of his head as his mind raced. "So, what you're saying is that she didn't act that way because she's mad at me?"
"I'm saying that might be the case," Kurenai replied cryptically, "or more likely it's a combination of things, and who you are played only a contributing role in the outcome."
Naruto nodded slowly. "I think I understand, a little. I don't understand why this has to be so complicated though."
"People have been asking that question for a long time," Kurenai replied in a serious voice.
Naruto let out a sigh. "It's not going to get any easier, is it?"
"Probably not," Kurenai said with a slight smile. "But few worthwhile things are easy, are they?"
"I guess not. Thanks for explaining some of this," Naruto said, straightening. His stomach decided to lighten the mood by letting out a low rumble.
"That's partly my job, you know," his sensei said with a sad smile. "Real life examples of looking 'underneath the underneath' seem to work the best. But… you'd better get going before they eat all the ramen."
Naruto knew she was just teasing him, but his pulse still sped up at the thought. After a quick bow, he began racing off across the rooftops to catch up with his team. He heard the quiet laughter that followed him, but, recognizing her voice, he just smiled himself.
He caught sight of Shino and Hinata blocks before they reached the ramen stand. He landed lightly on the pavement behind them, but still they both turned as one to look at him. Well, we are supposed to be a reconnaissance team, he mused. "I, er, had to talk to sensei about my extra training," he said. It was technically true, and much less embarrassing to admit.
"Ano, what does your scroll say?" Hinata asked. "We've been comparing ours, and Kurenai-san has put a lot of detail into the plans."
"She didn't give me a scroll," Naruto said with a slight smile, "she arranged for me to work with another jonin in the morning. Some guy by the name of Maito Gai."
Shino looked at him, and Naruto swore the skin above his glasses began to draw together, like he was frowning. "I've heard of him, he's a renowned taijutsu specialist."
Naruto bit his tongue before it could start bragging. If Kurenai-sensei was correct, these were not the people around which he needed to put up a false front. In a heretofore rare flash of insight, he realized that Shino might interpret Naruto's morning training with another jonin as a sign of favoritism. "I hope so," he said with a theatrical sigh. "She said my taijutsu was such a mess that she didn't think she could fix it without help."
Hinata just stared at him as Naruto gave a sheepish shrug. Shino's brow, however, smoothed out and he gave a thoughtful nod. "Then it's good that you are both taking this so seriously."
Naruto shrugged. "How am I going to beat you down if I don't?" he asked innocently, then began to whistle tonelessly as he walked past his teammates. "We'd better get there before the noodles get cold," he said.
He turned back to see Shino and Hinata exchange a wordless glance before they began walking again.
The old man who ran Ichiraku always seemed pleased to see his best customer. "Hey Naruto, who are your friends?" he asked. Until recently, he and his daughter were the only people Naruto knew who were likely to even notice if he dropped dead in his apartment. At least, until the smell bothered the neighbors, he reminded himself.
Still, if anyone deserved a smile, the gracious man about to serve the noodles surely did. Shino and Hinata had silently walked up on either side of him, so he put a hand on each of their shoulders as he answered. "These are my team-mates, Ichiraku-san!"
"Well, why haven't you brought them here before?" the old man asked.
"Well, we just became Team 8 yesterday, and we had a practice, and…" Naruto explained until he noticed the man was smiling and waving his hand from side to side.
"Naruto, I was just joking with you. Seriously now, aren't you going to introduce your friends?"
"Gomen," Naruto said quickly. "This is Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata."
"I'm pleased to meet you both!" he replied. "Have a seat and I'll get you some menus, take all the time you want to decide – we have a lot of flavors to choose from."
Naruto, of course, already knew what he wanted. He used Kurenai's coupon to order a large bowl of pork ramen at half price, and after checking his wallet ordered another bowl of miso-flavored ramen. Shino ordered a bowl of beef ramen, while Hinata eventually settled on miso ramen.
Everyone was quiet after the noodles arrived. Their labors seemed to have given them an appetite, because their mouths were kept too busy for conversation for a good while.
Surprisingly enough, it was Shino who finally broke the silence. "Our sensei was impressed by your Bunshin," he said without preamble.
Naruto frowned. "What do you mean?"
"The one that carried the wood up to the roof," the bug-user replied cryptically. "I don't think she expected to be able to hold a conversation with one."
"Why not?" Naruto asked. "If it's a copy of me, shouldn't it be able to talk?"
"Most Bunshin jutsus don't even produce solid copies," Shino explained. "And while there are some that do produce copies of the user that can touch things, those copies are usually not very self-aware. At first, we thought it was you talking to us."
Naruto stuck his lower lip out. "So you're saying I'm so dumb that you couldn't tell the difference between me and a mindless clone?" He thought he heard a sharp inhalation coming from the stool on the other side of him, where Hinata was sitting.
Shino looked at him for a long moment. "Your attempt at self-deprecating humor is noted, but not necessary. The thrust of my remarks was that your clones are unusually self-aware, a reflection of the degree of skill and energy used in their creation."
"Oh," was all Naruto could say to that. "Er, thanks, Shino."
The Aburame boy nodded gravely. Naruto finished his pork ramen and started on the miso-flavored bowl. He wondered why Kurenai-sensei hadn't said anything to him about the Bunshin. He concluded that she probably didn't want him to get a swelled head and start acting like Uchiha-teme. But that didn't explain why Shino decided to bring it up on his own. Then he remembered the boy's disparaging remark yesterday after his botched attempt at Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Naruto supposed he might have felt the need to make up for his previous comment, even though Naruto had mostly forgotten it a day later. While the boy's reserve and exceptionally quiet and precise manner were a little unusual to deal with, that same precision and rectitude would also make him a very reliable team-mate. Oddly enough, Naruto found himself warming a bit toward the silent shinobi.
Of course, such an introspective mood was not meant to last. Naruto's train of thought was neatly derailed when he felt a spike of killing intent coming from the street behind him. He twisted on his stool to see what was happening.
Looking somewhat bruised and dirty, Kiba, Sakura, and Sasuke were walking up the street. Sakura was chattering happily about some test involving bells and Naruto felt his stomach quiver happily for an instant. Then he remembered her words on the park bench and the warm feeling died. The killing glare, of course, was coming from Sasuke. Naruto wondered if the famed Uchiha genius even figured out why Naruto had taken his place. Probably not, he concluded, for a genius, he doesn't have much imagination.
Naruto returned his rival's glare and bared his teeth. He knew his slightly enlarged canines sometimes made adults a little nervous, but he didn't fully appreciate why this was so until a couple of days ago.
The whole thing might have ended with an exchange of glares if Kiba hadn't asked Sasuke a question. When he didn't get an answer, the Inuzuka boy looked over at his team-mate and flinched at the facial expression he saw. Kiba frowned, evidently searching for the source of Sasuke's ire. Finally he seemed to notice Naruto, seated at the counter of Ichiraku Ramen, twisted around in his seat to return Sasuke's stare.
Kiba gritted his teeth and his spiky hair seemed to puff up as he stalked over toward Naruto. "Do you have a problem with my team-mate?" he asked in a voice that was little more than a growl.
Naruto didn't answer, but instead kept his eyes locked onto Sasuke's face. He did notice that the Uchiha boy's upper lip was curled, perhaps in annoyance at Kiba's interference.
"What is your problem?" Kiba asked again, a little louder this time.
"Mind your own business," Naruto said, glaring back at Sasuke. Sakura had also stopped, and looked back and forth between the two of them.
"Kiba," Shino said reasonably as he stood up, "Naruto and Sasuke have never really gotten along. We should probably just stay out of it."
The dog-user frowned at the bug-user. "Who are you to tell me what to do, Aburame? We just spent all day on Kakashi-sensei's stupid bell test, and we're the first team he's ever passed!"
Kiba threw out his chest with that last statement, and Shino's eyebrows became visible over his glasses. "Our teacher did not make us perform any additional tests beyond a basic skills assessment, so she must be confident in our abilities. Instead, we completed our first mission today."
Kiba snorted. "So? Just because you got an easy sensei… I got a look at her when she picked you up. She decided to go easy on you."
Shino stiffened as Naruto stood up from his seat. Naruto swore he heard a low buzzing coming from somewhere nearby. Sasuke scowled at Kiba's back, but he approached the ramen stand along with Sakura.
Fortunately, the Haruno girl stepped forward and grabbed Kiba's elbow. "Don't you dare insult their teacher just because she's a woman! Would you want your sister to hear you say that? Or your mother?"
Kiba winced, seemingly in spite of himself, and Naruto had to stifle a snicker. He was a little surprised when Hinata spoke up as well.
"A-ano," she said, "Shinobi are not allowed to fight in public. I, er, don't want to see any of us get in trouble so soon after graduating."
Shino's brow furrowed, but he gave a short nod and sat back down.
"Right Hinata!" Sakura agreed with the girl. "Leave it to the women," she sneered at Kiba as she emphasized the word, "to keep their heads in a crisis." She smiled at the Hyuuga girl. "It's not worth any of us getting in trouble, just because Naruto-baka is too stupid to leave Sasuke alone."
That last insult, so gratuitously added, was the last straw for Naruto. Sakura was playing the peacemaker here, but she still made time to insult him. Her precious Sasuke was glaring at him, while he was just trying to eat his ramen.
Well, to hell with it, and to hell with them.
He got up from his stool so abruptly that it fell over. He pushed past Kiba so brusquely that the larger boy took a half-step backwards. Kiba reached out for Naruto's shoulder, but the smaller boy used the heel of his hand to knock Kiba's hand loose before he even had a chance to get a grip. Akamaru let out a low growl as the Inuzuka boy leaned against the wall of the restaurant.
Hinata felt her jaw drop, along with her stomach, as her team-mate angrily marched away. She felt almost worn away by all the emotional reversals she'd been through that day. First Naruto's stumbling comments in the garden had mortified her, as if he was saying she made him think she was a boy.
When he tried to explain what he meant, it only got worse. He seemed to be saying that she wasn't pretty or nice like the other two girls in their graduating class… but that wasn't right, or else he wouldn't seem so confused. Then he finally said that he was glad she was on his team.
Hinata couldn't remember anyone ever expressing happiness at her presence, not since her mother died. His simple, heartfelt statement almost made her faint. As it was, she had to turn away because her face was blushing as red as a tomato. She'd had difficulty talking to him after that, and it wasn't until Kurenai-sensei came to help her in the kitchen that she began to organize her thoughts.
Kurenai was nothing, if not observant, and she soon had Hinata explaining the whole situation. The older woman chuckled a little when the genin repeated Naruto's words. She advised Hinata in a more serious voice that any future compliments she received from the Uzumaki boy were likely to be just as heartfelt and incoherent. It was funny how her sensei seemed so sure that would happen, but Hinata knew better.
She really didn't want anyone to get in trouble for fighting, especially Naruto. She suspected that he would receive more of the blame than he deserved if there was an altercation. Hinata did not miss the looks the villagers gave him as they walked together. She knew Naruto was often laughed at by the other students at the Konoha Ninja Academy. But she hadn't realized how the villagers in the street reacted to him. It seemed almost, familiar, in a way. It took a while before Hinata realized that she'd seen that degree of distaste before – in the faces of the Hyuuga clan elders when they talked of her failures.
Still, Naruto passed through it without comment, merely returning the more virulent glares. Hinata didn't know whether to be impressed by his fortitude in the face of such dislike, or to be heartbroken that the boy didn't seem to regard it as anything unusual. Nonetheless, she feared that a public brawl would make people hate him even worse, especially since it would have involved genins from several prominent families.
Between her and Sakura, they'd managed to remind the others of the rules, and at least partially defuse the tensions between the two teams. She was grateful to the pink-haired kunoichi, and started to shyly return the girl's smile when Sakura decided to insult Naruto and blame him for the whole situation.
Sakura's attitude toward Naruto was well known to Hinata, but the white-eyed girl was surprised to see her still lash out at him while supposedly in the role of a peace-maker. This hypocrisy wasn't lost on Naruto either, because he visibly flinched, then got up from his stool so quickly that she was afraid he was going to attack someone. Instead, he just brushed past Kiba, who was also standing closer than was strictly polite.
Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed. "He's always such a baby," she groused. Kiba scowled, shaking the hand that Naruto knocked away.
Hinata, who'd been staring after her team-mate, turned toward the other girl. The new emotion she'd started feeling on Naruto's behalf began to simmer within her. Her Byakugan activated on their own, and Hinata was surprised by a sudden desire to close all of the girl's Tenketsu points.
Close up, the distended blood vessels and enlarged pupils that characterized her family's advanced bloodline looked rather disturbing. Hinata had always been embarrassed about this before, but now she was secretly pleased when the Haruno girl stepped back suddenly. "What's wrong?" the girl asked.
"You should not say such things to Naruto!" Hinata said in a voice that was little more than a whisper.
Sakura gaped at her for a moment, but then her eyes grew canny. "I understand," she said. "But just because you like him doesn't mean he isn't-"
"I think you fail to understand," Shino interrupted, "that Naruto was wholly focused on his food until Sasuke made his presence known - his killing intent was noticeable to all of us. Your condemnation of Naruto is therefore illogical. I think you also fail to comprehend that it is possible to feel loyalty toward team-mates in the absence of romantic attachment." The bug-user looked from Sasuke to Kiba, ignoring the shocked silence caused by him actually speaking up. "You have my sympathies," he told the dog-user in a matter-of-fact tone.
Sasuke let out a "hmph", but didn't dispute anything Shino said.
Hinata wrapped her fingers around the hem of her jacket. "A-ano, Shino-san, I think I've had enough ramen."
Shino looked at her for a moment before nodding. He looked at the cooling remains of his beef ramen. "You are correct, it is best hot, and our meal has been interrupted." He turned to the older man and bowed, a motion Hinata quickly echoed. They left their money next to Naruto's and then Shino led the way as they left Ichiraku.
As Hinata and Shino walked side-by-side down the street, she could hear the man's voice carrying in the late afternoon air: "I would appreciate it if you young punks would not run off my customers!"
It was several minutes before Hinata found her voice again. "A-arigatou, Shino-san."
Shino's head turned toward her, even as he continued to walk forward. "My observations were accurate and relevant. No thanks are necessary."
Hinata absorbed this carefully as they continued down the street. "Gomen," she finally said, "but you seem to have changed your opinion regarding Naruto-kun?"
Shino was quiet for a moment, and Hinata worried that her question had offended the boy. "I am… re-evaluating my assessment," he finally said. "Kurenai-sensei seems to bring out qualities in him that were not apparent in his conduct at the academy. A skilled observer must always be willing to challenge his preconceptions if new data contradicts."
Finally, they reached an intersection where Hinata need to turn to reach the Hyuuga compound. "I will see you tomorrow," she said quietly.
"At ten," Shino agreed.
Hinata nodded and turned toward her home. She noticed the sky slowly darkening in the East as a warm summer evening approached Konoha. It seemed impossible that so much had happened in the span of a handful of hours, and she wondered if life would always be like that around her new friends.
That thought fortified her as she walked, steeling herself for her father's inevitable questions.  

[Pandora Green]

Chapter 4
Naruto leapt from roof to roof as dawn began streaking the eastern sky. He flexed his left hand repeatedly, trying to work out the annoying tingles. On Kurenai-sensei's advice, he'd picked up a field alarm at one of the outfitter shops.
A shinobi on a mission might desire to wake at a specific time, or to limit the amount of rest he did allow himself to take. However, a conventional alarm clock was far too noisy to use when a mission might require stealth. At some point an extremely clever Cloud shinobi devised a portable clock powered by small, but powerful batteries, charged with a simple raiton jutsu. Instead of ringing a bell to wake its owner, the ninja-clock sent a pulse of electricity through a pair of wires attached to the owner's body.
Naruto slipped the metal rings onto his fingers before finally falling asleep the previous night, trusting the device to wake him for his training session. The problem was that he stayed up fairly late beforehand. He'd been upset after the confrontation at Ichiraku's, and the thought of his team-mates listening to Sakura berate him just made his stomach twist even worse.
He didn't really understand why Shino and Hinata were willing to treat him differently than the others. A small part of him wondered if they would suddenly 'wake up' and see him like everyone else. The niggling fear of that occurring kept him from even thinking about taking Kurenai's advice. He'd rather no one ever knew about his prisoner.
Such thoughts kept Naruto awake far later than he realized, and he'd evidently slept through the first several pulses of his new alarm clock. Whoever built this particular model must have had some experience with sound sleepers, though. The pulse that finally woke him up left his hand numb and tingling. That complicated things as he rushed around his small apartment, trying to get ready with only one hand working well.
Still, he did manage to make it on time, and arrived at the designated training area at the stroke of six. Of course, what he found there immediately had him wondering if he was still asleep and dreaming.
Gai… sensei… he supposed… was a large, muscular man in a green leotard. The outfit was loose on his frame, for which Naruto was grateful, and over it he wore a chuunin vest. Topping all of this was the ugliest bowl cut Naruto had ever seen.
Though the one on the kid standing next to him was close competition.
Standing next to Gai was a half-size duplicate that Naruto supposed was this Rock Lee person. He didn't have the vest, though he did have the orange leg-warmers that matched with nothing else. After meeting Kurenai-sensei, Naruto was beginning to dislike that color for some reason.
"Ah, you are right on time!" The man boomed in a loud voice that seemed to have no business belonging to a ninja. "You must be eager to start banking the fires of your youth!"
Naruto had no idea what that just meant, so he used one of Kurenai-sensei's parting words of advice. He just smiled and nodded.
OoOoO
Hours later, Naruto was bruised, tired, and hungry. Despite his 'handicap' with ninjutsus, Rock Lee was still a formidable opponent. He proved this by beating Naruto senseless every time they sparred. Possibly the most irritating thing about this experience was that eerie smile he wore the whole time. Naruto was used to a variety of expressions from his opponents. Sneers and emotionless masks he was used to, having known both Sasuke and Shino. Scowls were the norm with Kiba, and bored calculation was to be expected from Shikamaru.
But Rock and his teammates were from the previous year's graduating class at the Konoha Ninja Academy, so Naruto had never sparred with him before. It was a little odd to fight someone who never stopped grinning, even on the rare occasions when Naruto actually managed to land a blow.
Gai-sensei's idea of training consisted of Naruto and Lee sparring for nearly two hours straight, while he watched and nodded thoughtfully. By the end, Naruto realized that Lee was starting to take it easy on him, which actually stung his pride a little bit. That drove him to fight even harder, but every blow he landed was just further proof that Lee was holding back.
Finally, the older boy went to make one of his flying spin-kicks, but was just a hair slow on the launch. Instead of ducking or blocking, Naruto stepped inside the kick and sunk his left first into the boy's stomach.
Lee fell down, for the first time that morning. When he got up, he was still smiling, but he nodded and Naruto realized he was breathing heavily.
"Yosh!" Gai said, startling the genin, "Kurenai was right. You will make a most challenging sparring partner for my Lee!"
"No," Naruto said, shaking his head. "I barely hit him at all." He usually didn't let his frustration show like this, but he was tired, cranky, and humiliated at how thoroughly he'd been schooled all morning.
"Naruto…" Gai said in a disappointed voice that made Naruto want to shiver. Something about the man made his skin crawl, just a little. "Don't let the fires of youth gutter out so quickly. Not many of your age can hold their own against Lee, and especially not for two hours. I've never seen anyone wear him down like that since he became a genin."
Lee abruptly straightened and bowed. "Naruto-san! We must train together! Only then will we become true geniuses of hard work!"
Naruto scratched his head. What the hell were these crazy people talking about? "Geniuses of hard work?" he asked in a dubious voice.
"Yes," Gai said gravely. "Konoha has many geniuses. Lee's teammate Neji is considered a genius by many of the Hyuugas. Uchiha Sasuke in your class was also classified as one. But it is one thing to be born a genius, to be given talent like a gift one has not earned. It is quite another to be like Lee, a genius of hard work. He has no special abilities or skills, only his own determination to be the best. His willingness to work for his goal is more valuable than being any sort of lesser genius, and will take him much farther in the end."
Naruto frowned as he considered the strange jonin's words. It pleased him, just a little, to hear Sasuke described as a lesser type of genius by someone else. But something else he said echoed Kurenai-sensei's words. A little hard work can make up for a lot… The day will come when Shino and Hinata's lives may depend on you. Mine as well. He gave a sharp nod as he made up his mind.
"Good… Lee!" Gai barked. "You still need to work on your endurance if Naruto can wear you out! Double your weights and run five laps around Konoha!"
Lee practically cheered at this announcement, which confused Naruto even more. But as the boy strapped heavy bracers to his forearms and began running, Gai took him aside to work on his forms.
Naruto had never had a lot of individual instruction before, so it was a novel experience as Maito Gai had him settle into one fighting stance after another and began correcting his posture and foot placement. At first, all the tiny adjustments seemed silly. Did it really matter if his lead foot was turned slightly outward instead of slightly inward? But he remembered what Shino had said about the man's reputation, so he did as he was instructed. When Gai then had him shift from one stance to another, using the corrected forms, Naruto was surprised at how different it felt.
His surprise must have been visible, because Gai began to explain the reasons for the corrections. The turned in foot affected how the knee flexed, and allowed him to retreat more fluidly if he faced a strong attack. The slightly flexed rear knee allowed him to chamber a kick with that foot an instant faster. After each explanation, Gai would ease him through the motion, making Naruto repeat it at least three times so the proper form would have a chance to engrave on his memory.
Next they began working on punches and blocks in conjunction with the corrected stances. Everything seemed to flow together much better than Naruto remembered. The man's voice was almost hypnotic as he talked Naruto through all the basic Taijutsu moves. He never seemed to lose patience or become distracted. It was still a little unnerving, but Naruto was more entranced by the way everything seemed to flow together.
Time passed a lot quicker than Naruto realized, because they'd just finished running through all the basics when Lee staggered into the clearing, red-faced and breathing hard. So, of course, Gai immediately had them spar again.
It was slightly more even this time. Lee was clearly winded, though he soon got his breathing back under control. Naruto's Taijutsu was a little smoother, and he occasionally scored a glancing hit on his opponent.
Lee was sweating hard, but he was still smiling as they fought. Dimly, Naruto realized that fighting when he was tired was just one more challenge for the boy, one more way to make himself a little bit better. Naruto wondered if he should start worrying when such odd people began to make sense to him.
It was after nine o'clock and both boys were considerably worse for the wear when Gai called a halt to the sparring. Naruto brushed some dirt from his sleeve. He wouldn't have time to go home and wash it before he needed to meet his team. Both he and Lee were red-faced and sweating. They both had bits of grass sticking to their uniforms from where they'd been knocked down, and their hands trembled slightly as they froze in their ready positions at Gai's command.
"That's enough for today," Gai said with a nod. "Naruto, you should report to Kurenai. Lee and I will take a jog to cool down. I'll expect to see you here tomorrow at the same time."
Naruto aped Lee's bow to his sensei, and watched with some amusement as Lee struggled to keep up the pace Gai set as they ran out of the training area.
Naruto walked a little slower toward training area nineteen. While he didn't have time to clean up, he was really starving… especially since he hadn't even had time for a cup of instant ramen when he finally woke up that morning.
Now that he'd acknowledged it, his hunger waxed rhapsodic as he made his way down the street. Most village shopkeepers were just opening up for the day, and he'd already spent over three solid hours training and sparring. Being groggy and half-starved, it was no surprise that his feet picked their own route, and he found himself passing Ichiraku's. Surprisingly, it was open, serving hot tea and dumplings to merchants and workers as they began their day.
The old man did a slight double-take when he saw Naruto approach. "I'm sorry, but we haven't even started making the broth for noodles yet."
Naruto tried not to let his disappointment show. "Kurenai-sensei says I need to eat something besides ramen all the time, anyway," he said with a shrug.
"Bite your tongue! She'll put me out of business," the old man said with a laugh. "You look like you've been working hard already. I've got some nice hot tea, how about some rice balls and pickles to go with it?"
Naruto nodded and sat down at the counter. The square plate that was soon placed in front of him was crowded with food, but he wasn't about to complain. The hot tea washed down the sticky rice and made a nice contrast with the sharp taste of the pickles. As he finished, he felt new energy flow into his limbs and knew stopping here had been a good idea. As he was finishing his tea, the old man took his plate and leaned forward a little.
"I'm glad I got to meet your friends last night," he said with a smile as Naruto patted his stomach.
"They aren't friends, so much as…" Naruto began but trailed off. He wasn't completely sure what he wanted to say. They were teammates, and that was it.
"They're good kids," Old man Ichiraku corrected him gently. He smiled ruefully, "they tore those snot-nosed brats a new one after you left."
Naruto wasn't sure he heard the man correctly. "Nani?"
"Yeah," the old man nodded as he collected Naruto's tea cup. "They really didn't seem to like the way those others talked to you. I think that little Hyuuga girl gave that pink-haired one the scare of her life."
"Hinata?" Naruto asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, that was her name," the old man smiled. "She did something weird with her eyes. I couldn't see her do anything with her hands, but that other girl jumped back like she'd been burned. If that little girl is a Hyuuga, I can see why everyone steps lightly around her clan."
Naruto was confused as he thanked the man and paid for his breakfast. As he resumed his journey toward the training area, he tried to puzzle out their behavior. He didn't know why they stuck up for him, especially since he wasn't even there to see it happen. But knowing they had done so made him feel unaccountably warm.
The more he thought about that, the stranger Naruto felt. He knew as he approached the training area that he needed to do something about this.
OoOoO
Kurenai was mildly curious as to how Naruto's training session with Gai and Lee would go. She'd been tempted to look in on them, but Gai was a jonin and his senses were particularly acute. He might take offense if he thought she was questioning his abilities, and she didn't want to do anything to jinx the deal they had struck. It was a little unusual by Konoha standards, but she felt it was the best way to get Naruto's level of proficiency up to where it should be. She felt unaccountably pressured in this respect. Perhaps it was that unknown group the Hokage mentioned; maybe it was her own instincts. Either way, she had the feeling that the sooner the boy learned how to effectively defend himself and his teammates, the better.
Hinata arrived first, as seemed to be her habit. She was visibly more composed than she had been the day before. Kurenai hoped that her words, and the successful completion of their first mission, had bought the girl some peace. She hoped that sending her genins out on an obvious team bonding exercise would ease them past any potential tensions that might arise. She was particularly concerned about the Hyuuga girl. If her assessment of the girl's father was accurate, she'd likely need a safe haven within the team. If she was uncomfortable with her teammates, that would not be available.
The girl greeted Kurenai in her usual, hesitant manner, but from her posture, the jonin could tell that something was wrong. "Hinata," she asked as a quiet inspiration overtook her, "how did dinner at Ichiraku go?" Something about the girl's turmoil suggested that it was related to the boy she so admired.
Hinata pressed her lips together, even as her forefingers began to push against each other. Her posture was hunched over as normal, but the quaver in her voice when she spoke was something new to Kurenai's ears. "A-ano… Naruto caught up to us part of the way there… We, we asked him about his extra training, and he told us he was working with Gai-sensei as we walked the rest of the way."
Kurenai frowned at that. She'd hoped the boy would have more sense than to brag like that, but she supposed he was still making up for what had happened in the academy. Still, she'd have to talk to him about this.
Hinata took a calming breath. "When Shino said he'd heard of Gai, Naruto replied that you told him his taijutsu was so bad that you didn't think you could fix it yourself." She paused for a moment, and then continued in a rush. "Why did you say something like that to Naruto? He tries so hard and no one ever gives him any credit."
Kurenai rocked back on her metaphorical heels, but tried not to let anything show on her face. It wasn't like she hadn't actively encouraged Hinata to assert herself when they talked – but it seemed like her words had just been wasted air. And now… this same girl was questioning her judgment where Naruto was concerned. As breakthroughs went, it was a minor thing, but Yuuhi Kurenai had learned as a genin to take whatever successes she could find. How she handled this was important… at least it was if she wanted Hinata to build on this.
"Hyuuga Hinata, before I say anything else, I want you to know that I am pleased that you have taken me at my word when I said I wanted you to ask questions when you don't understand something. This was not a question I had anticipated, but I am pleased that you trust me enough to ask me about this," Kurenai concluded with a smile. "That said, I would ask you if Shino had any expression on his face when he mentioned Gai-sensei."
Hinata frowned in confusion. "Kurenai-sensei… I did not notice anything, but…" her voice trailed off.
"But you were focusing on Naruto as he spoke," Kurenai supplied helpfully. "I ask this because that was not exactly how I described the situation to Naruto when I told him he would be working with Gai. I think he chose his words so that you and Shino would not think he was receiving favorable treatment. My arrangement with Gai is… unusual among jonin-sensei. Naruto's unusual stamina means that he can make up the time he lost at the academy faster than most. Our… arrangement will facilitate this. It is because of Naruto's strengths, including his willingness to work hard, that this was done."
Hinata looked more than slightly mortified. She ducked her head down again as she stuttered out, "G-gomen, Kurenai-sensei."
"None of that, Hinata," Kurenai said sharply. "Your loyalty to your teammate is commendable, and I specifically instructed you to ask me questions like this. At some point, you may become an advisor to a village leader or ANBU captain. Under those circumstances, not speaking up would be an abandonment of your duties. I am also glad to hear that Naruto was considerate of the feelings of his teammates when a potentially uncomfortable subject was raised."
"Naruto is never cruel," Hinata said quickly, then stopped and swallowed.
"No, he isn't," Kurenai agreed, "but he doesn't always realize when he's giving offense to others, does he? But he means well, and that counts for a lot. All he has to do is just learn to think in another's place, part of seeing 'underneath the underneath'. You have just given me proof that he is making progress in that area and for that I thank you."
Hinata's cheeks pinked and she nodded in acknowledgment.
Kurenai frowned at her and decided to take a stab in the dark. "Something else happened, though, didn't it?"
Hinata let out a sigh and began describing the confrontation with Team 7. Kurenai nodded thoughtfully, smiling when Hinata related the warm greeting Ichiraku's proprietor had given them. She'd have to find an excuse to talk to the man at some point. Naruto might just be a regular customer to the man, but it wouldn't do to make assumptions. She did raise her palm at one point to ask a question. "Are you quite sure you felt the killing intent coming from Sasuke before Naruto turned around?"
Hinata nodded quickly.
"Good," Kurenai said with a smile. "I am glad he did not do anything to provoke Uchiha. I'll be having words with Kakashi about controlling his students if anyone tries to make something of this."
However, Yuuhi Kurenai was highly annoyed by the time Hinata was finished with her story. "I almost hope the owner of Ichiraku does file a complaint against them for interfering with his customers," she growled. She frowned at her student. "Hinata, you did nothing worse than standing up for your teammate. Activating your Byakugan, consciously or not, is not an offensive action by itself. Sakura did not look like she expected that, did she?"
Hinata slowly shook her head. "I don't understand why she can be so cruel to Naruto-kun," she said, the honorific barely whispered – but Kurenai's ears were sharp.
The jonin cleared her throat. "I think it's because she's a silly, shallow girl. She chases after Sasuke for the same reasons many of the other kunoichi do, and she cannot appreciate the subtle qualities of others."
"Subtle qualities?" her student asked.
"Most people see Naruto and dismiss him as a prankster or worse," Kurenai replied, skating around the edges of the Hokage's law. "You've told me yourself that you appreciate his cheerful nature and how he always keeps trying, no matter what. Those are actually very good qualities for a shinobi to have; it is wrong that you are the first person to notice this. Aside from Umino Iruka, I don't have a lot of respect for the teachers at the Konoha Ninja Academy."
Hinata's pale eyes widened at this admission. Kurenai knew she was laying it on a little thick, but Hinata's tendency to second-guess herself was holding her back. That vague sense of urgency she felt was also pushing her to become less circumspect in her dealings with the girl.
"Honestly," Kurenai continued, "I think you see Naruto better than many. And he needs people that understand him more than you know. Between you and me," she said, lowering her voice in a conspiratorial manner, "I think he needs friends as well as teammates. Would you like to be more than just his teammate?"
Kurenai phrased the last question innocently enough, and she suppressed a grin as Hinata's face immediately went bright red. Her suspicions confirmed, she looked up at the morning sky as her student collected herself. Hyuuga Hiashi might very well die of apoplexy if he knew what she'd just learned, but that was far too kind a fate for him. "I – I would like to be his friend," Hinata finally said.
"Good. I think you are making an excellent start," Kurenai said. "Just keep in mind that he hasn't had many people defend him over the years, so he may not understand why you do it." She didn't add that it was sad that this was the case, as sad as the fact that Hinata had no experience with being appreciated or complimented. Sometimes Kurenai felt like she was a medic-nin in a ward full of broken bodies… only what she was trying to repair here was harder to heal than mere flesh.
She was broken out of this reverie by Shino's arrival. The Aburame boy was as quiet and expressionless as ever, but Kurenai could almost feel his attention shift back and forth between herself and Hinata.
"Hinata informed me about the altercation last night," she said.
Shino appeared to straighten slightly inside his long coat, but it might have been Kurenai's mind picking up subtler indications and filling in the blanks for her. "Our conduct was within the guidelines set forth for shinobi at the academy," he said, a little stiffly.
Kurenai nodded. "And I was about to compliment you both on your handling of the situation."
Shino nodded in turn, accepting her implied criticism of his defensiveness. "Will there be repercussions from this?" he asked.
"Only for them. Your conduct was above reproach, all of you, even Naruto. He left while being insulted, rather than retaliate. That speaks highly of his maturity, of all your maturity," Kurenai added. Then her expression hardened. "If there is an inquiry of any sort, I will deal with it, and make whoever raised it sorry to have done so."
Shino stood there for a moment, and Kurenai could almost hear the gears turning behind those dark glasses of his. Finally, he nodded again. Kurenai felt like the boy was still forming his own opinions of her as well as his teammates. She wasn't sure whether her last statement would move him positively or negatively, but she guessed the former to be the case. After all, logic would maintain that they had followed the Konoha Shinobi Code of Conduct to the letter, and logic was something Shino, like many Aburames, seem to inordinately prize.
"I would suggest," She said, "that we not mention this incident to Naruto unless he brings it up. They were his classmates and it was him that was being targeted, so it may not be a comfortable subject… but if you can bring this sort of cohesiveness to our field missions, they will become much easier to accomplish."
"What was that about missions?" Naruto asked as he landed in the middle of the clearing.
Kurenai felt her blood change to ice. Her student had discarded the uniform Ikitaro had spent so much effort altering the previous day. Instead, he was wearing a bright green leotard that bunched up in odd places on his small frame. The burnt umber leg warmers were there as well, with the toes of his sandals barely poking out of the fabric pooled around his ankles. Topping it off, his hair had been unevenly dyed black, so some of it was ebony, some bits were still blond, and gray-yellow streaks abounded. It had also been hewed, apparently with a dull kunai, into a crude approximation of a very distinctive bowl cut.
Gai had practically sworn not to do this. Naruto wasn't supposed to make major changes to his equipment without consulting her. She'd taken so damn many precautions, only to see… this… after only one training session. She didn't know how her kunai had gotten into her hand; all she knew was that it felt very, very right somehow. "I am going to kill Gai in his sleep," she snarled. "He promised me! No, I'm going to just sever his spinal cord and let him live as a quadriplegic!"
Naruto had taken a step back, as did her other startled genins. He seemed to be having some sort of difficulty moving, or was it breathing? Abruptly, he bent forward and his legs buckled. His rear end hit the ground and there was a loud pop and a puff of smoke. When it cleared, Naruto was lying curled up on the ground, in his new uniform, holding his stomach and laughing until tears began to leak from his eyes.
Kurenai stared at her student, realizing that she'd just been had. She'd been so shocked by Naruto's appearance that she hadn't even thought to check for a henge. He'd conned her, and quite skillfully under the circumstances. She tried to keep a straight face, but the corner of her mouth kept twitching as she stared at her genin.
Naruto sat up abruptly, as if he felt her eyes boring into him. He scratched at the back of his head and tried to stifle his laughter. "I promised I wouldn't pull any more pranks in the village, but I didn't say I'd completely stop," he explained in a sheepish tone.
Kurenai gave it up as a lost cause and let out a bark of laughter, something that hadn't been heard in Konoha for many years. She saw her other genins' eyes widen as she laughed along with the blond-haired prankster. "Very good, Naruto. I hadn't extracted a completely binding promise from you, had I?" she asked rhetorically. "Now, do you know why your little joke worked so well?"
Naruto sat up straighter and frowned. Hinata had a faint smile on her face, no doubt from seeing Naruto fully recovered from the previous night. Shino was… well, Shino. Naruto shook his head.
Kurenai kneeled on the ground, getting comfortable and motioned for the others to do the same. "That was a very realistic henge, but normally, I can see through a henge a block away. I am a genjutsu specialist after all. But I didn't immediately think to check. Why was that?"
Naruto frowned, concentrating, but it was Shino who spoke up first. "You were clearly agitated by the apparent changes to his appearance. This obviously interfered with conducting logical thought processes."
Kurenai nodded. "That's part of the answer."
"From… from what you said earlier, about when you said I'd still be your student," Naruto said slowly, "You repeated that several times, but it didn't make sense until I'd seen Lee. Then I understood that if Gai made Lee dress like him, you might be afraid he'd do the same with me," he concluded, shuddering at the thought.
"Exactly. And if I was afraid it would happen, then I obviously considered it to be at least remotely possible, correct?" Kurenai asked.
Shino spoke up. "So he showed you something you at least partially expected to see, and made sure that it was sufficiently upsetting that you would react without thinking first?" he summarized.
"Exactly," Kurenai agreed. "Now, while this was a good prank, you can also apply those principles on missions, can't you?"
What followed was a rather stimulating discussion on using misdirection and knowledge of the enemy's emotional hot-buttons, both on the battlefield and to accomplish mission objectives. The latter was more applicable for a reconnaissance team, but all three of her genins contributed to the discussion. Hinata had evidently been paying attention in her classes, for she was able to effortlessly recall details from various famous missions they'd studied at the Academy. Naturally, Shino settled into a role as the critic for their various strategies, picking apart their plans and exposing every weakness.
Uzumaki Naruto was as creative as his… additions… to the Hokage Monument suggested. What was surprising was his ability to put together a plan almost instantly when presented with a situation and an objective. Kurenai slowly began to realize that Naruto's pranks had given him a thorough grounding in operational planning that many shinobi three times his age lacked  

[Pandora Green]

For the most part, Kurenai would simply present them with a situation, then sit back and watch them hash it out. Sometimes it would take Naruto several attempts to come up with a plan that Shino would approve. Hinata stayed out of the discussions at first; she turned pink and looked down immediately after correcting Shino regarding the range of a Sand Country hunting boomerang. That interruption did not pass unnoticed by either boy, and soon they were working on drawing her into the planning sessions – usually by asking her specific questions.
By the end of the hour, her genins' heads appeared to be buzzing with all the new thoughts and ideas they'd assimilated. Despite herself, Kurenai was a little impressed by the way they'd worked together on her hypothetical problems. She'd spent several hours last night looking up incidents that had occurred over the last seventy-five years, and memorizing enough details that she could relay it naturally and without anyone realizing they were being tested. She'd expected them to take a least three sessions to work through the fruits of her labors, not one.
Nonetheless, she smiled to herself as they began walking toward the Hokage's tower to receive a mission. It wasn't often that she misread people like that, and it was even rarer for her to be positively surprised. Her genin team was a bit more intelligent than she'd anticipated, and that was a good thing. She idly wondered why she'd been so resistant to taking on apprentices when her bitter memories supplied the answer.
Unbidden, she saw her students' forms overlaid with ghosts from the past. Hinata was replaced with a slender, red-eyed kunoichi with a far more aggressive attitude. Shino was replaced by the equally pragmatic, but even more hard-headed Nomaru. And Naruto… the village pariah was replaced by another young shinobi, also hated by some for something he had no control over… Mattai was there, his pale eyes in sharp contrast with his heavily tanned face and unruly black hair. The ghosts of her childhood walked before her, and Kurenai wondered if she looked into a mirror, would she see the imposing figure of Kobaru-sensei in place of her own.
It was a fortunate thing that a jonin must possess iron self-control. It was a blessing that the shinobi code would allow no trace of her anguish to show on her face. It was a curse that she would walk behind her team, letting them find their own paths, but always watching their backs and swearing to herself, never again. All of this as her mind relived those painful memories, along with bittersweet remembrances of a boy she once thought she might have loved.
OoOoO
With creative use of Kage Bunshin, kikai bugs, and Hinata's all-seeing eyes, Naruto and his teammates began regularly clearing out two "D" ranked missions every afternoon. As long as they finished their first mission quickly, the Hokage was happy to oblige them when they returned to the tower. Kurenai-sensei was also correct about how the money would accumulate from doubling up on missions. Naruto soon paid Ikitaro the tailor another visit, and ordered a duplicate uniform made to the same specifications. It would be nice not having to do laundry every night to keep from stinking. He even thought about buying a small washing machine.
Such thoughts were especially attractive since he got pretty dirty every morning. If anything, the pace of the workouts with Lee and Gai-sensei grew even more intense. Naruto was frustrated that he couldn't build up calluses and scar tissue on his knuckles like Lee could. He tried to hit the training logs just as hard as his rival, and he always finished with bloody knuckles, but after they healed the skin refused to harden up. Eventually he gave up and just wore his fingerless gloves, trying to do as much damage as possible to the thick wood.
Under Gai-sensei's careful guidance, Naruto's taijutsu form slowly improved. Now he found himself rarely losing his footing when sparring with Lee, and almost never against Shino or Hinata. Speed, however, was still a sore point with Naruto. No matter what he tried, he couldn't ever seem to match Rock Lee in that department. Gai assigned him to wear some leg weights, and Naruto obeyed – though he attached twice as many as he was instructed to. He was so frustrated that he wanted to get better as rapidly as possible. Of course, the first time he tried to leap onto a roof-top after doing this, he ran face-first into a wall.
Kurenai-sensei pulled him aside after he showed up for a team meeting barely able to walk. That was when she explained why it was better to gradually increase the weights, so he could get used to them. A sudden increase in his burden would merely keep him from moving as freely, which would be counter-productive in the long run. Sure enough, once he reduced his load and began moving a little more freely, the increases in speed and strength sped up as well.
Nonetheless, his morning sparring sessions with Lee consisted of the other boy running rings around him at first, until eventually Naruto could tire him out and get the fight onto a more even footing. It was humbling to realize that if they ever fought for real, his only hope would be to fight totally defensively and hope Lee didn't strike a decisive blow before he could wear the spandex-clad ninja down. Of course, that knowledge, galling as it was, only spurred Naruto to work harder, and increase his weights whenever he began to move a little easier.
Against Shino, Naruto's efforts were a little more gratifying. The larger boy still had reach on him, but Naruto's corrected stances were stable enough that he could block his teammate's attacks without falling or being shoved off balance. The weights made it harder to block fast enough, but the increased mass was gratifying when he snapped his forearm around properly and knocked Shino's arm completely out of line. The bug-user's eyebrows rose above the tops of his dark glasses as Naruto spun inside his guard and lightly slapped his stomach with a textbook perfect reverse punch. Not a word was exchanged as they slid back into ready positions for the next round, but the nod Shino gave him was oddly respectful – more like a subtle bow – and Naruto responded with a tight grin… though he really wanted to shout out loud.
Naruto was also secretly glad that he had not run into certain other people as well. They'd heard through the rumor mill that Team 7 had been given a C-rank mission after Kiba pitched a fit about being asked to catch the cat belonging to the Fire Lord's wife for the third time. Now, Kiba, Sasuke, and Sakura were out of town for an unspecified period of time, escorting some bridge-builder. Naruto really wouldn't miss Sasuke, or even Kiba. Sakura… it was weird, how he'd still get that light feeling when he saw her… no matter how nasty she'd been to him the last time. That light feeling would last until she said something, or until she started fawning on Sasuke, or do something else to remind him of exactly how much she didn't care for him. He didn't understand how he could want to see her, but still hate how she made him feel afterward. Maybe he deserved it in some way, so it was only right that it would happen like that. Of course, now it wouldn't happen for a while now – all over a tantrum about a mission to retrieve a cat.
Naruto didn't understand what the big deal about that cat was. Of course, after the first time they'd caught it, Shino left one of his smaller bugs concealed under its collar. He and members of his personal colony can apparently smell each other from blocks away, so after that it took maybe half an hour to narrow down the errant feline's location. Naruto's presence was usually enough to flush the pampered pet, who seemed unusually agitated whenever he was around. On the other hand, it would usually run straight to Hinata and beg to be picked up. The white-eyed girl would oblige, and stroke the fur around its ears while they returned it. Naruto thought it was kind of funny how easily the finicky cat took to his teammate, but when he asked Hinata if she had any pets, she just looked down and became extremely quiet. He wanted to ask Kurenai if she knew what was going on, but when he caught her eye she was frowning as well.
Uzumaki Naruto wasn't the most observant shinobi in the leaf, but he wasn't stupid. Well, not completely stupid anyway. His white-eyed teammate wasn't just quiet. At times, something would seem to set her off and she'd just seem to disappear, shrinking in on herself and refusing to make a sound. Try as he might, he couldn't see any pattern to when this happened. He remembered when he tried to compliment her in the herbalist's garden, and how she pretty much refused to talk to him after that. Yet that same evening, she'd reportedly gone off on Sakura for saying something nasty about him. It just didn't make any sense. Even for a girl.
Of course, that meant he had no idea what to do. He knew his own issues with that damned fox sealed behind his navel tended to make him react oddly at times, but no one bound a demon to Hinata, so he had no idea what was wrong. It was very confusing so he tried to not make a big deal out of it. He just wished he knew what Kurenai-sensei was being so close-mouthed about.
After completing their thirtieth mission, yet another cat retrieval, Kurenai-sensei did not lead them back to the Hokage's tower for another mission. "You three have been working very hard, and I'm quite pleased with your progress, so we will take a break this afternoon and relax," she said with a smile.
With that, she led them through the village to a cluster of buildings that looked vaguely familiar to Naruto. But it wasn't until the sign became visible that he realized she was taking them to Moritake's.
OoOoO
Kurenai smiled as she led her team into her favorite restaurant. They'd been working hard the past two weeks, between missions, sparring, group lessons, and their individual training. She could see from the effects it had on their performance than none of them had been slacking on the latter. At the same time, she became concerned she might be pushing too hard, and risking burn-out of some sort.
That was the excuse Asuma used when she asked him about the training regimen he used with his team. Mostly it seemed to consist of him playing Go with the Nara kid, while the other two looked bored. Or the four of them eating at Asuma's favorite yakitori place. He seemed to think that just putting a Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka together on one team was enough to ensure success. Kurenai knew better: success and survival were never to be taken for granted.
Moritake himself looked up from the bar as they walked in. "Kurenai, Naruto, come in, come in. This must be the rest of your team?"
Kurenai smiled and introduced Shino and Hinata to the retired shinobi-turned-restaurant owner. Soon they were seated at a table in the corner, where a waitress took their orders.
Shino looked from her to Naruto and back again before speaking. "Logically, this would be an establishment that you are familiar with. But how did he know Naruto?"
Kurenai resisted the urge to grimace. You couldn't train kids to look 'underneath the underneath' for years and not expect them to do so at inconvenient times. "After our first team meeting, I took Naruto here to discuss some issues that had come up."
"I see," Shino said in a neutral tone, then took a sip of his tea.
Kurenai's eyes cut over to Naruto, who was looking a little uncomfortable. Hinata just stared down as if studying her plate. "No, I'm not sure you do," she said in a reasonable tone. "Naruto doesn't like to make a big deal of it, but I don't think you are aware of the extent of the supplemental training he has taken on."
Naruto's face reddened a little, but now Hinata was looking up, evidently interested in the direction the conversation had taken. Shino just gazed at his sensei, his facial features settled into his neutral mask. Shino refused to show any overt emotion, but she was fairly sure the bug-user was bothered by a seeming favoritism on her part toward his teammate. He seemed to respect logic, so she would lay her cards on the table in a logical fashion.
"We came here to discuss his role within the team, and the measures that would be necessary for him to fill it. He agreed to replace his uniform, at his own cost, for something better suited to our probable mission profiles. He is also undergoing the most comprehensive training program out of the three of you. Every morning, he gets up at five and meets with Maito Gai and his student for taijutsu training from six until nine. Then he meets with us for team training at ten. Between training and missions, we are usually together until five or six in the afternoon. After that, he stays at training area nineteen and practices alone with his jutsus and chakra control exercises. What time do you go home each night, Naruto? Be honest."
"I usually quit and go to Ichiraku's around nine or so," he answered in a low voice.
"What have I told you about eating Ramen too often?" Kurenai chided him with a smile. Naruto acted embarrassed, but that only made her point for her. "Anyway, I was asking him to basically commit to working fifteen hour days, so I needed to ask about several things, including his willingness to work such a schedule."
Shino nodded slowly. "I admit I was curious as to the true extent of his extra training. He purposefully made light of it when we discussed it earlier. I… given Naruto's improvements, I would probably also benefit from extra taijutsu training, but I currently spend most of my mornings and evenings working on the kikai colonies at home." Kurenai was sure there was a regretful note in the boy's usual monotone.
"I understand that," Kurenai agreed. "Your family's unique abilities are based on your affinities with the colonies you host. Your father made me aware that they were entering a delicate phase in their breeding program. I'm sure the long term benefits will more than make up for any delays in your training."
Shino nodded again but didn't speak. Kurenai tried not to let any relief show on her face. The last thing she needed was any jealousy or perceived favoritism poisoning the atmosphere between her genins. The problem with Shino was that he didn't give her a lot of information to work with. He was normally so restrained and emotionless that the normal warning signs were usually absent. But as Kobaru-sensei once said, 'still waters often run the deepest', and it was a mistake to assume the boy behind the emotionless shinobi mask was without feelings of his own.
Kurenai's musings were interrupted by a hesitant voice. "A-ano," Hinata said. "I would like to take extra training, if I can. I know I have a lot that I need to work on, and I need a lot of extra effort to be as good as… as good as I need to be."
Kurenai considered the girl for a moment. While she damned Hiashi for systematically destroying the girl's sense of worth, his actions seem to have given her motivation to work harder, rather than just giving up. It was too bad her father was too stupid to see her stubborn determination and acknowledge it for what it was. "I appreciate your desire to improve, Hinata, but I don't think the morning sessions with Gai would be much help to you. They are working on standard taijutsu forms, not Jyuuken. The styles are so different that you would be re-learning everything from step one. I also hate to mention this, but I think your father would have strong objections to you learning another style, at least for now."
Kurenai considered her next words as she watched the girl's face fall. She supposed Hinata couldn't help but take it as a rejection – everything in her world was probably rooted in the rejections from her remaining parent. Even if she understood it, Kurenai still found it painful to watch. "On the other hand, I think you should work on your individual exercises in the morning. After our team meetings are over, you can always stay late and work with Naruto."
If someone had suddenly whisked Hyuuga Hinata away, and left an alabaster statue sitting in her place, Kurenai doubted it would have looked much different.
Kurenai turned toward Naruto, who looked a little surprised. "You two are about the same size, so you make good sparring partners, at least for right now. You can show her some of the things you are learning from Gai. Hinata also has excellent chakra control, and that's one of your weaknesses. I think both of you can benefit from working together. Do either of you have any objections?" She asked innocently. She felt slightly guilty for putting them on the spot like this, but the better she got to know the two of them, the more she felt a stronger friendship between them would do them both good. Hinata needed to absorb some of Naruto's confidence, and Naruto needed acceptance. He was still afraid to tell anyone who didn't already know about his prisoner. Kurenai felt, given her reactions, that Hinata was the least likely person to reject him if she found out.
Still, it was a calculated risk. She didn't know what Naruto would do if he did finally trust someone, only to be betrayed. The worst case scenario was, well, disastrous. Not that it would be anything worse than this village seemed to deserve, claimed a traitorous thought welling up from the bitterness of her past. She dismissed that sentiment as unworthy of her, and unworthy of the memories of those lost. She looked from Naruto to Hinata and back again. If she was wrong, the village would live or die on the merits of its youngest generation, and perhaps that was as it should be. Wars were usually decided in a similar manner, weren't they? "Do either of you object to working together?" she asked archly.
"N-no," Naruto said quickly. Kurenai remembered how upset he'd been after Hinata reacted so strongly to his compliment at the herbalist's house. He was still fearful of upsetting her again, which wasn't really a bad thing. Hinata had few enough people in her life who were considerate of her feelings.
Of course, that could be used both ways. "Hinata, I understand if your father would not approve. If you don't think you can do this, Naruto understands," Kurenai said. "It's not like you'll hurt his feelings," she added innocently.
Naruto nodded calmly, but Hinata's face took on a trapped expression. "I-I will be happy to train with Naruto!" She stammered quickly, confirming Kurenai's assessment. As nervous as she was, Hinata was more afraid of giving offense, or doing something that could be seen as hurtful to Naruto. "Good, it's settled. You two can start tomorrow. If your father has any questions, Hinata, please tell him to direct them to me. But let's not go borrowing trouble, all right?"
Hinata nodded. Kurenai doubted Hyuuga Hiashi would even notice unless someone brought it to his attention. He was evidently very involved in training the girl's younger sister, Hanabi. There was already buzz around the jonin ranks about another possible Hyuuga genius being considered for an early admission to the Konoha Ninja Academy. Even if he did object, custom mandated that, even as Kurenai was powerless to interfere in his daughter's home life, Hiashi was similarly powerless to interfere with her genin's training regimen.
OoOoO
The next day, Team 8 performed no missions at all. Instead, they were joined by two newcomers to training area nineteen. Kurenai watched Naruto lead Rock Lee and a brown-haired girl into the clearing to join them.
Tenten was a pretty genin, a year older than Kurenai's students, with her long hair done up in an elaborate double-bun that kept it up and out of her way. As they entered the clearing, she was twirling a kunai and telling Naruto about a sword her father was designing. When they saw Kurenai, Tenten and Lee immediately moved to stand before her and bow.
"Thank you for allowing us to attend this training session," Tenten said in a respectful voice as she straightened up. Lee didn't say anything, but nodded vigorously.
Kurenai blinked, a little disconcerted by their extreme politeness. "That's all right, I'm happy to have you here. Naruto has improved so much working with Lee and your sensei."
Tenten nodded. "He's really sped up. Gai-sensei has me come by every so often for target practice, and I can barely hit him now."
"Target practice?" Kurenai asked curiously.
"Hai," Lee said abruptly. "It's to test our reflexes. Naruto-san and I are the targets and Tenten-san practices."
Kurenai blinked.
"Blunted kunais," Tenten said quickly. "They don't draw blood. Well, not much anyway."
"I don't let her hit me in the face anymore," Naruto said innocently.
"I… see," Kurenai said in a distant voice. "Well, let's get started." She motioned for them to sit. "A genjutsu is a construct, composed of chakra, designed to deceive the senses…"
As she began with the standard academy introduction, Kurenai considered her audience. Shino was as impassive as ever, but she got a sense that his attention was unusually focused today, whether by the visitors, or by the subject matter was debatable. Hinata hadn't said a word since the newcomers arrived. Her Byakugan could see through most genjutsus because the chakra would be directly visible to her. But she still paid close attention to the lecture. Kurenai wondered if she was aware of the small number of advanced techniques that could deceive the Hyuuga bloodline, if she expected her eyes to fail her when it counted most, or if she was just being polite. Naruto was mostly focused on her words, though he did fidget a little as she talked. For someone as energetic as the blond shinobi, that was almost inevitable.
In addition to being excruciatingly polite, Gai's students were most attentive.
Lee frowned a lot as she talked. She wondered if he was having difficulty following the material, since he probably hadn't studied genjutsus much since discovering he couldn't mold the chakra necessary to create one.
Tenten, on the other hand, was almost starry-eyed. It took a while for Kurenai to understand why she had such an awed expression on her face. From what she'd heard, the girl was one of the more formidable new kunoichis, deadly accurate with thrown weapons, and no slouch with melee weapons either. Still, she was on a team with a male jonin and two boys, one of whom was the Hyuuga prodigy. It was likely that she'd questioned, at least once or twice, if a woman could be a successful ninja and advance to the jonin rank. Girls were a noticeable minority at the academy, and the disparity only became more pronounced at the higher ranks. Kurenai realized, with an uncomfortable lurch, that the girl probably idolized her for her apparent success.
Yuuhi Kurenai's multi-tasking capabilities were put to the test as she sorted out her feelings and concluded the textbook explanation of her art. While she had made the rank of jonin, she didn't consider herself any sort of success, let alone a role model. She'd simply had the dumb luck to survive a situation that killed her betters, and then been unable to find conclusive evidence as to why it had happened. Not that she needed it. She knew why it happened. But the Hokage couldn't act without proof, and for something like this… she'd need unassailable proof, because the villagers wouldn't want to believe it, wouldn't want to act.
And so he got away with it. And she was left to pick up the pieces of her life. To find another team, but never get close to them. To pass the rank exams, but never feel successful after that one awful failure. Part of her wanted to pull that starry-eyed girl off to the side and scream into her ear. Tell her to stop looking to the future and to look around instead. Tell her to cherish her teammates and her friends, because they could all be taken away in the blink of an eye. But she couldn't do that. She'd frighten the girl, and she'd probably talk. Word might get around… and the one who did this to her, the one responsible for so much. He would know, and it might please him to know how deeply he'd scarred her.
She'd rather die first.
Instead she wrapped up her description of the theory. "Are there any questions?" she asked. When no one moved, she continued. "Now, as for identifying when you are being affected by a genjutsu, remember it is limited by two things: the amount of chakra used, and the creator's imagination. Both of those factors mean that not every element of the illusion will be perfect. There's only a finite amount of chakra that can be used to create the sensory overlay, and it can't include anything the creator didn't think of. That means if you act or focus on things the creator didn't anticipate, you are more likely to notice discrepancies. Once your mind seizes on these differences, the battle is mostly won. You aren't fooled any more, and now all you need to do is push back the curtain that has been drawn before you."
Noting the nodding heads before her, Kurenai posed a question. "One commonly known method of disrupting a genjutsu is to wound yourself – the sudden pain can shock the senses and disrupt the overlay. But this is hardly an elegant solution, as someone in a dangerous situation hardly needs to be mutilating themselves. How else do you think this can be accomplished?"
Shino spoke up first. "Logically, if it is a chakra-based energy construct, the genjutsu can be disrupted by the application of a similar form of energy."
"That is correct," Kurenai agreed, "but we're getting ahead of ourselves. What is an easier way to free oneself from such a construct?"
Lee and Naruto looked puzzled, and Tenten frowned. Surprisingly, Hinata hesitantly raised her hand. "A-ano… if the construct is anchored to your personal chakra, would it be easier to just disrupt the anchors, rather than the whole thing?"
"That's very close," Kurenai agreed. "You can temporarily remove what the genjutsu is anchored to. It's tricky if you don't have good chakra control, but if you can suppress your own chakra circulation for a split second, the genjutsu will instantly fall away from you. This is a lot easier than trying to shatter a chakra construct that might have been made by someone considerably more powerful than you are.
With that, she demonstrated the seals, and with a sharp intake of breath, suppressed her chakra circulation to zero. Instantly, the sunlight dimmed, the sound of birdsong became fainter, and the feel of the warm sun on her face was muted. She blew out the breath, released her chakra, and everything quickly went back to normal.
She had each of them practice by themselves, then with her standing next to them, maintaining a blindness genjutsu on them. Hinata and, surprisingly, Lee picked it up immediately. After figuring out what they were doing wrong, Shino and Tenten soon mastered the technique.
Unfortunately, Naruto was never able to completely suppress his chakra. Kurenai suspected the Yondaime's seal and/or his tenant was the reason, but she couldn't discuss it in front of others. She had to settle for a sympathetic look as Naruto grumbled and sulked.
"K-Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked, glancing at Naruto. "Is there a way to remove a genjutsu from another person?" Kurenai did not miss the look she sent Naruto's way, but the boy was too busy sulking to pay attention just yet.
"Well… there is, but it's a little trickier," Kurenai agreed. "Shino hit upon the principle earlier. You have to disrupt the chakra in the genjutsu itself. The easiest way to do this is to draw in your chakra and push it down toward your hara, right below your navel. You collect as much as you can, and compress it into as tight a sphere as possible. Visualize it like a ball being squeezed and compressed from every direction. Once you have it packed as tightly as possible, release it all at once."
"W-won't that, er, hurt?" Hinata asked nervously.
"Not really," Kurenai assured her. "One, it is very difficult to gather a lot of energy that way. Also, it's still your chakra. It's attuned to your body, and until it's aspected by a jutsu, it will just pass through your cells without damaging them."
"I can see how that might push away a genjutsu anchored to me, but how will that help someone else?" Tenten asked curiously.
"Another very good question," Kurenai acknowledged with a nod. "When the chakra leaves your body, it will form a pulse, almost like a shockwave, that will extend a small distance, based upon how much chakra is used. That pulse can also disrupt any genjutsu it encounters. However, it's difficult to generate enough power to make the pulse extend any great distance. Thus, you may have to be very close to the person you are trying to free," she concluded, ignoring the blush that suddenly spread across Hinata's face.
With that, Kurenai had them practice the harder method. Unsurprisingly, Lee could not perform this method at all. Tenten could do it, but the pulse only extended a few inches from her skin. Hinata concentrated for several moments, then released a chakra pulse that extended over two feet from her body, after which she fell to her knees, gasping for breath.
Yuuhi Kurenai didn't often think about the Kyuubi. It was locked away, sealed inside Naruto. It gave him unnatural stamina and the hatred of the villagers, but it didn't control his mind or his soul. She was far more concerned with her student as a person than as a strategic asset. So it could be understood how she overlooked the effects her instructions would have on the vessel that contained the nine-tailed fox.
It wasn't until the frustrated genin began to concentrate and an actually visible haze of blue chakra appeared around him, tinted purple at the edges, that the implications sank in. Kurenai opened her mouth to tell him to stop when he released the chakra pulse.
She instinctively threw up her hands as the energy washed over her. Her skin tingled and all the hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention, but there were no truly adverse effects. The air was filled with sound as the trees around them emptied of birds. Turning and looking across the clearing, Kurenai could see flocks of birds taking wing in the distance… and the faint shimmer in the air meant the pulse was still traveling.
She turned back around and saw everyone staring at Naruto. Tenten's mouth was hanging open, but Lee was giving him a v-for-victory sign. Shino's eyebrows were clearly visible above his sunglasses. Hinata's Byakugan were activated, and the expression on her face bordered on awe. Naruto gave his sensei a sheepish grin and shrugged as he scratched the back of his head.
Kurenai sighed. "I suppose if you aren't good at chakra suppression, you'd make up for it with chakra expression. We should try to finish this lesson before the ANBU get here to find out what happened."
The Hokage was more amused than anything else once he learned the full story that evening. Kurenai was mortified when she discovered how large an area Naruto had effected. Nearly a quarter of the village had felt the chakra pulse. It hadn't hurt anyone or damaged anything… as long as you didn't count the dignity of the wives of a few village elders. Kurenai was secretly annoyed at the frivolous uses some made of her art, so having one's cosmetic illusions stripped away suddenly, seemed a just comeuppance.
Fortunately, no one would learn of Naruto's involvement in their less than private humiliations. All they would know was that a test involving an experimental jutsu had gone awry, affecting a large area.
To his credit, once she reported the basic facts, the Hokage was more interested in Naruto's development.
"I suppose it's best," he concluded, "that if he can't use one method to break a genjutsu, then the alternative would work even better for him."  

[Pandora Green]

"I'd say a bit more than better," Kurenai disagreed in a respectful voice, "I felt that pulse. He could disrupt every genjutsu user in a battle with one technique."
"Ours as well as theirs," the Hokage gently reminded her.
"We can work out a signal so friendly forces would know to expect it. I'm just wondering what else he can learn to do," Kurenai said. She sighed. "So much time wasted at the academy, being ignored. But he's determined to make up for lost time now."
"How is he doing… aside from his studies?" the Hokage asked.
"Better," Kurenai said after a moment's thought. "He seems to have struck up a friendly rivalry with Gai's student Rock Lee. They spar for hours every morning, so it's not unexpected. He and Shino get along, though it's sometimes hard to tell with the Aburame boy. He's as quiet and close-mouthed as any of his family. As for Hinata…" her voice trailed off. "I think she may suspect his secret now. She's far more intelligent than anyone gives her credit for, and those eyes… she had them activated and was staring at him after he released that pulse. I think she suspects something."
The Hokage frowned. "That is worrisome. I suppose we could arrange to have her moved…"
"On the contrary," Kurenai said quickly. "I think it's the best thing that could happen."
The Hokage stared at Kurenai for so long that she began to feel a little nervous. But she couldn't let him do anything to disrupt what she'd spent so long building towards. "I'm not sure I understand your reasoning," he finally said.
"Naruto has been isolated all of his life. He's been alone as long as he can remember, and now, thanks to Mizuki, he knows why. You and I can tell him it's not his fault until we're blue in the face, but it won't matter if everyone else who knows treats him like a monster. With all due respect, Hokage-sama, right now your law is slowly killing him. No one his age knows the truth, and he feels like once he tells them, they will turn on him like their parents have. All the burdens are on him, and right now he's so overloaded he can't even take the first step. He's gladly working fifteen hour days because it gives him something else to think about, gives him something he actually has control over."
Kurenai looked over at her superior. His eyes were squeezed shut like he was in pain, and his face had a peculiar grayish tinge to it. His pipe sat forgotten and extinguished near the corner of his desk. Kurenai felt a sudden stab of pity for the old man, but she knew she had to make her point before he did something to ruin things. "To break him out of this destructive cycle of belief," she continued, "three things have to happen. First, someone of his generation has to figure out what happened. With your law in effect, that's a tricky proposition. Second, they have to confront Naruto and let him know they know something's wrong. Finally, they have to accept him as he is."
"And you believe this Hyuuga girl can do this?" the Hokage whispered.
Kurenai nodded. "I believe she's our best chance. She's intelligent, well-read, and… well, she likes the boy. She was mortified yesterday at the thought of something she said hurting his feelings. She's also volunteered for extra training with Naruto – they're probably sparring as we speak."
The Hokage nodded, though his eyes were still troubled. "So much was done with the best of intentions, yet we only end up hurting the boy worse." He sighed. "When he learns the whole truth, I doubt he will ever forgive me."
Kurenai had never seen her Hokage look so… defeated before. "I think…" she began, but her voice trailed off. "I think he is more forgiving than we believe. Times were chaotic back then, and you chose the best course you could. He will understand that."
"Would you in his place?" The Hokage asked.
The question caught Kurenai off balance. She realized that her smoldering resentment of his reluctance to pursue a dangerous investigation had been apparent all along. She felt shamed, a little, by that. "Perhaps," she said, realizing it was more true than she first thought, "but I think he is more forgiving than I. After all he has been through, he still wishes to become Hokage – knowing what the job entails."
The old man seemed to gather himself and leaned back slightly in his chair. "That is one of the more amazing things about the boy. While you are probably correct about his nature, I still need to find some way of making amends. I will leave it to you, Kurenai. I only hope you are correct in your assessment."
Kurenai inclined her head respectfully toward her leader, a man she revered even more now than she did before. "I hope I am right as well, I do not see any other way for this to end well."
After the genjutsu seminar, Hinata stayed in training area nineteen with Naruto. Her father hadn't expressed any concern when she informed him she would be doing extra training in the evening. Honesty required Hinata to admit that there were places she would rather spend time at than home – and this was one of them. Her training partner immediately sprang to his feet and began making an extremely exaggerated series of stretches. Grimacing comically, he grunted and groaned as Hinata suppressed a smile. His habit of trying to do everything in as funny a manner as possible was also one of the things she admired about him. He always wanted those around him to be smiling and laughing. She knew she had far too little of either of those things in her life.
She must have let a little of her smile show as she rose to her feet, because Naruto stuck his lower lip out in an exaggerated pout. "Hey!" he exclaimed, "it's not funny. I don't think I've ever sat in one position that long in my life!" Abruptly his face fell. "And then when I do finally get to do something, I can't make that chakra-interrupt-jutsu-thing work right."
"But you were able to do the other method," she reminded him gently.
"Yeah, that's right!" he agreed, brightening. "It seems like I can do that chakra pulse thing fairly well."
Hinata found herself nodding agreement without saying a word. The truth was that he'd done quite a bit better than 'fairly well'. She activated her Byakugan just before he released the pulse, something she never casually did when she was looking at the boy. She didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea, especially after Ino had asked her some very embarrassing questions about Sasuke after school one day,
But the chakra spike she felt was so strong, too powerful to be coming from the genin before her, no matter how hard he tried. It didn't seem possible, so she activated her Byakugan to search for the real source… and found Naruto, shimmering with gathered chakra, swirling in complex patterns around his navel as he concentrated. She'd never seen anyone gather that much chakra before, including her father. When Naruto released the pulse, he glowed within her special vision and then his aura exploded outward. The only thing she could think of when she saw it was the old tales of Susano, stepping out of a thunderbolt as it struck the ground.
Then the shockwave passed and Naruto was still standing there, looking a little embarrassed while everyone stared at him.
And now she was training with him.
When Naruto finished stretching and grunting he looked over at Hinata. "What do you think we should work on first?"
Hinata could barely force words out of her tightening throat. "A-ano… whatever you think we should do is fine," she squeaked out.
Naruto frowned and she wondered what she'd said wrong. "Er, I don't really know what we should work on first. Do you have any suggestions?"
Hinata swallowed. She was uncomfortable, but she was also bolstered by the thought that Naruto didn't seem to be knowingly putting her on the spot. "K-kurenai-sensei said that each of us has things t-to learn from the other," she said.
Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "All right, what did you want to work on?"
"Well," she replied, "she did mention I could work on my sparring with you, since we are roughly the same size."
"Okay," Naruto said, brightening, "that sounds like fun."
"Ano, Naruto, what did you want to work on?" Hinata asked in turn. It was funny how it got easier to talk to him once she got started. Thinking about it, she realized it was because he never lost patience with her or anyone else. He'd even stop to talk to younger students who still attended the academy, like Konohamaru, if they ran into him and his friends while they were working. It was yet another thing she admired about him, especially when she was dealing with other, less patient people.
Naruto scowled for a moment and Hinata thought she'd offended him before she realized that was just his 'thinking' expression. Evidently he found it painful. "Well," he said slowly, "I normally work on my chakra and my jutsus in the evenings. I don't get much chance to do them during the day, except when Kurenai-sensei works on them with us. Lee can't do ninjutsus, so we just practice taijutsu."
"Kurenai-sensei gave me some special exercises to work on my chakra control. Would you like to work on those as well?" she suggested.
Naruto nodded slowly. "I think that would be a good idea. Sensei says my chakra control sucks." He paused as Hinata stared at him, "Er, actually she said it was 'one of my weaknesses, and I need to fix those as much as possible'."
Hinata reflected that at least he had some strengths, instead of being all weaknesses like her. Their sparring only confirmed this. Naruto had improved so much working with Gai-sensei and Lee that she could barely touch him now. He was so fast…
When they paused for a moment, Hinata asked between pauses for breath how he'd become so quick on his feet. Naruto nodded like he'd just remembered something and pulled up his pant leg.
Strapped to his lower calf and ankle was a padded bracer studded with metal ovals. Hinata's stomach dropped as she realized he was beating her even while he was burdened with extra weight. "I took some of the slugs off before I came here," Naruto told her, oblivious to her mortification, "because I wanted to give you a good fight. But training with these on my legs and a smaller pair on my forearms really helped me improve. I bet Kurenai-sensei knows where we can get you a pair. The cool thing is that they have a quick-release latch that makes them just fall off of you. That way if you get ambushed you can ditch them quickly."
Naruto slid his pant leg back down and straightened up. "I tried that once, just to see what a difference it makes… I felt like I was flying at first. That'll give people a real surprise, won't it? Er… what's wrong?" he asked.
Hinata was trying valiantly to maintain the cool composure her father demanded of her… but standing as close as Naruto-kun was, it was impossible to hide so much from him. Trying to control her quavering voice, she asked "D-do you think they would help me that much?"
Naruto frowned. "Of course it should. I remember you kicking my butt that first day we sparred."
Hinata felt even more embarrassed now. He obviously remembered their sparring and resented her showing him up. "G-gomen," she said quietly.
"Nani?" Naruto asked, his face a portrait of confusion. "Why are you apologizing for being a good sparring partner?" he asked. "Lee kicks my butt almost every day, and I learn a lot from it. Now my job is to kick your butt so you can learn from it. See how it works out?"
Hinata privately wondered how much her rear end would hurt when this was over, but she only said "Hai!" in response.
They sparred for another hour before Naruto called a halt. He was flushed, but Hinata was trembling and pouring sweat. She knew she looked a mess, but she'd rather sweat like a pig than let Naruto think she was unwilling to work hard. Ino and Sakura would be mortified to be seen in such a state, but didn't Naruto-kun suggest, in a roundabout way, that he liked Hinata better because she wasn't like them? "That was really good Hinata," he said, "Once you got warmed up you kept up with me… and if you'd been using your Jyuuken, I'd have been in real trouble!"
Hinata knew he was exaggerating to be nice, but his words still buoyed her. "Thank you, Naruto. We should probably work with chakra control now. What specifically are you having problems with?"
"Everything," he replied, rolling his eyes.
Hinata did not react to his joke, but merely waited patiently for Naruto to continue. Finally, he sighed. "All right," he said. "I know from things Shino said that you and he are working on some kind of chakra-based tree-climbing exercise. I'm still having trouble with the basic water-walking Kurenai-sensei showed us nearly two weeks ago."
After they began, Hinata's normal reticence was countered by Naruto's obvious chagrin. She didn't understand how a boy who'd created such an incredibly powerful chakra pulse that afternoon had such difficulty pushing a constant level of chakra out of the bottom of his feet. Nonetheless, that was exactly his problem. The chakra in his feet would vary widely until it destabilized his support and let his feet fall through the surface of the pond. Fortunately, he would do this barely more than a step from the bank, so only his feet got wet.
Hinata watched him concentrate, and turned her Byakugan on so she could study the chakra flow through the coils in his legs. The delicate blue tracery was visible at this range, which pleased Hinata. Her eyes weren't as well developed as those of, say, her cousin Neji, and she sometimes had difficulty seeing another person's coils in any detail. After a moment, she began to make out more of the details as Naruto repeatedly dunked his feet.
One reason she was able to see the coils was simply size. Naruto had some of the thickest chakra coils she had ever seen on a human being, let alone a genin. However, with coils that thick, he should have no difficulty supporting himself on the surface of the water. But as she watched, she noticed bits of red chakra mixed in with the pure blue. When they reached his feet, they would surge in irregular ways. Sometimes the red chakra would cancel out the blue chakra, leaving that foot dangerously under-supported. Other times the red chakra seemed to reinforce the blue chakra, and that foot would start to raise up a little bit, unbalancing her teammate.
"Ano… Naruto, I have never seen someone with two types of chakra before. Why is that?" No sooner had the words left her mouth than Hinata knew something was wrong. Naruto went very still as his feet sank into the water. He wasn't even trying to support himself now.
"You're… looking? At my feet?" he asked her.
"Gomen," Hinata apologized quickly. "I thought, if I could see what you were doing with your chakra, I could help you more."
She could almost hear as well as see Naruto swallow. "I see," he said.
She dug her fingers into the crest of the bank. What was so wrong that Naruto was reacting like this? What had she done? She took a shallow breath and tried to steady her voice. "If you can keep the red chakra out of there, it'll probably work better," she suggested timidly.
Naruto frowned. "And how do I… wait… Hinata, tell me when you see any bits of the red stuff, all right?"
Hinata nodded and Naruto climbed onto the bank, concentrated for a moment, and then stepped out onto the surface of the water again. He held steady for a moment, until Hinata saw a mote of red light winding past his knee. "Naruto, I see one, traveling down your right leg. It just passed the knee, and now it's…
Naruto's face held a fierce grimace as he stood there with his eyes shut and his hands fisted at his sides. Hinata saw the blue chakra swirling faster down his right leg, and suddenly the red chakra was expelled, along with several bits of blue chakra, from one of the Tenketsu points on his calf.
"You did it, Naruto-kun!" Hinata said, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.
"G-good," Naruto said, panting, "tell me if you see another one."
"Hai!" Hinata agreed. After a moment she spoke again. "I see one in the other leg, still moving down the front of your thigh."
"I think I can feel that one," Naruto said as he concentrated. After a moment, that too was expelled. "Did that get it?" he asked.
"Hai, Naruto," Hinata said in an excited voice. "That was even faster."
"Good," he replied with his eyes still shut. "I'm going to see if I can sense the next one myself."
Sure enough, a large fragment of red appeared, moving quickly down his right leg. "Right?" he asked her.
"Yes it is," she breathed. Naruto had been standing on the water for nearly two minutes now. A moment later, a red spark escaped from the Tenketsu point on his knee.
Slowly Naruto stepped back onto the bank and sank onto his haunches. "Well, it looks like you were right, Hinata. That's the longest I've been able to stand on the water before." He let out a shaky breath. "That was harder than I thought it would be. I'm about beat. Do you mind if we break for the night? I need to get something to eat before Ichiraku's closes."
Hinata stood up, wiping the fragments of grass from her fingers. "Ano, Naruto, I thought Kurenai-sensei said you eat there too often?"
Naruto shrugged. "Well, I got to eat something before I sleep, or Lee will hurt me in the morning."
"Naruto, I thought the training would run late, so I prepared a dinner. You can have some if you like," Hinata offered as she retrieved her backpack.
"That, that's okay, Hinata," Naruto said quickly, "y-you don't have to do that…" his voice trailed off as he saw the size of the bento she pulled out of her pack. The bamboo lunch box was obviously sized for more than one meal.
It should be, since she spent over an hour filling it before leaving for the team meeting.
"Naruto," she said quietly, "I made enough for two. I appreciate you agreeing to work with me. It's… it's really a big help."
Naruto shrugged as she slid open the box. He tried not to drool when he saw what was in there. "I like sparring with you. It's really a challenge to block your attacks so I wouldn't still get zapped. When you get used to the weights, you'll probably go back to hitting me six times for every time I hit you. Besides, you really helped me today, too. I had no idea why I kept losing my footing like that."
Hinata ducked her head as she handed him a small square of porcelain. Using a pair of chopsticks, she quickly loaded it down with curry rice, cold baked fish with a miso glaze, sesame green beans, and potato noodles with daikon. Naruto's eyes literally bulged as he took a long sniff and let out a low whistle. Finally, she pulled an extra pair of chopsticks out of a paper sleeve and handed them to Naruto.
After a heartfelt "Itadakimasu!" Naruto took small bites of each dish, each of which was followed by an appreciative noise that made Hinata blush a little harder each time, distracting her as she removed a ceramic cylinder from her bag and unscrewed the top. After a few moments, Naruto looked up with surprised eyes when Hinata handed him a cup of tea she'd just poured from the thermos. He took a small sip and shook his head. "Wow Hinata, I had no idea you could cook like this. If you ever got tired of being a ninja, you could get a job at Moritake's, or, or even with old man Ichiraku!"
Hinata stared at Naruto as she felt her stomach drop like a stone. Was he telling her that he didn't think she'd make it as a ninja? Didn't he understand that her father would never let her work like a 'common tradesman'? She stared into his blue eyes as she felt tears begin to well up in her own.
Then she remembered her sensei's words. Hinata, we both know that Naruto hasn't had a lot of friends at the academy. I can't really say why, but it's not his fault. He hasn't had many people be nice to him, and so he's sort of out of practice at being nice himself. So when he tries… he's likely to be clumsy. Don't take anything he says too seriously if you think it's meant to be hurtful. Naruto isn't like most people – he doesn't hide his emotions at all. So if there are two ways to interpret what he says, and he's smiling at you, assume the nicer one and you'll be right every time. Naruto was, in fact, smiling at her, so she made herself smile back – because he wasn't saying she shouldn't try to be a ninja. He was just saying that she was a ninja who was also a good cook.
They sat there on the bank of the pond, eating dinner as the sun slowly sank behind the trees. Hinata enjoyed that meal more than any she had ever eaten at the Hyuuga compound.
But she still wondered what Naruto had been so anxious about.
OoOoO
Kurenai was a little surprised when Hinata approached her about where to find some wrist and ankle weights. She supposed she shouldn't have been shocked, given the success that Naruto was having with them. The boy was incapable of keeping a training strategy secret for the competitive edge it would give him. At least as far as his teammates were concerned, she could only approve of his ethics. While she never used weights herself, Kurenai was not primarily a hand-to-hand fighter either. Speed was crucial for Hinata to successfully use her Jyuuken, so it made sense of a sort. If she couldn't find wrist and ankle bracers small enough for Hinata's limbs, Kurenai resolved to approach Tenten's father about having some made.
Watching Hinata hurl herself at Shino, scoring a glancing hit on his forearm, Kurenai wondered how their joint training had gone. Hinata was slightly more aggressive than usual, which was something she'd been trying to encourage in the girl. Naruto was a little quieter than usual, which was also welcome. He did, however, seem to be extremely focused on Shino and Hinata's sparring – enough so that Kurenai was hesitant to pull him aside to test his progress with Gai and Lee.
All of her students seemed to be fairly relaxed, and worked together with little friction. Whatever Hinata had seen the previous day must not have affected their relationship. Kurenai had confidence her genin would take the correct path once she knew the truth, but she wasn't that anxious to immediately put her intuition to the test.
After an hour of sparring to get everyone warmed up and loose, Kurenai called a halt and they made their way to the Hokage's tower for their next mission. Naruto made a whispered comment to Hinata that made the Hyuuga heiress stumble and let out a quiet giggle. Shino turned to look at his teammates, only to have them assume perfectly sober expressions. The bug-user nodded slightly, then resumed looking straight ahead. Kurenai had the oddest feeling he was possibly also smiling behind the high collar of his jacket – if that was even possible.
Kurenai considered the rising morale of her genins and wondered what was happening when she was not around. Whatever it was, she hoped it continued.
It wasn't until three days later that she was reminded that everything had its price, and even good morale could be dangerous in its own way.
They were returning to the Hokage's tower after their first mission of the day, another cat retrieval. The Fire Lord's wife was most appreciative, though she was a little disconcerted when her pet was clearly reluctant to leave Hinata's arms. Naruto, who was less than fond of the cat that shunned him, appeared not to notice, while the rest of his team kept their expressions carefully neutral.
As they made their way through the lunch-time foot traffic, Kurenai noticed a disturbance coming from up ahead. Several figures were moving above the roof line at high speed, and distant shouts were echoing above the street noise.
The distant "crump!" of an explosion got everyone's attention, and the streets cleared with surprising rapidity. Despite a decade of peace, Konoha was still a hidden village, and its inhabitants were not ignorant of danger.
Kurenai's eyes expertly tracked the movements as the figures approached. One figure appeared to be pursued by several, and the pursuers were wearing ANBU masks. At their current course, they would pass within a block of Team 8's position. Something flew backward from the pursued, and a rooftop disappeared in a huge ball of fire, making the ANBU detour around the explosion.
Kurenai considered intercepting the fugitive, but paused, remembering the unseasoned genins behind her. She drew a kunai with her left hand, while her right formed the seals for a masking genjutsu that would disguise her team. She had no intention of risking them against an unknown shinobi that seemed willing to anger an ANBU squad.
Too bad her team was no longer behind her.
Kurenai bit off a curse as she dropped the illusion and spun back toward the chase. At first, she saw nothing except the ANBU and their quarry.
Suddenly, half a dozen Naruto's leapt out from between two buildings. The shinobi, who Kurenai could now see wore no insignia over a dark purple combat suit, spun and hurled a double-handful of shuriken at the boys. Four of them disappeared in puffs of smoke, but the last two avoided all the projectiles and slammed into their target, wrenching at his legs.
Off balance and hobbled, the shinobi lost his footing on landing and the three of them skidded and rolled across the roof of a furniture-maker. The two bunshin were disrupted by the hard landing, so the shinobi easily rolled to his feet and straightened the visor that hid his eyes. More purple cloth covered the rest of his head, concealing his gender, but Kurenai thought he moved like a man as she leapt toward the rooftop.
Naruto, however, beat her to the punch. He suddenly appeared, alone, in the air above the rooftop. Kurenai saw two more in the alleyway she was passing over and realized they must have thrown him into the air. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" the one in the air yelled, and suddenly it was raining Narutos.
Kurenai lost track of the original as she moved to get an angle for a kunai-throw at her genin's target. That was easier said than accomplished, because Narutos were attacking him from every direction. The speed Naruto developed in his morning training sessions was very apparent now – his clones were little more than blurs as they landed and hurled themselves at their foe.
The shinobi, however, was not an easy target. He blocked and countered with a degree of skill that worried Kurenai. He even avoided the first two kunai that she threw, dodging by the smallest of margins. But eventually, Naruto scored, and delivered a spinning roundhouse kick to the head that knocked the shinobi off his feet. The shinobi tumbled over and over until he rolled off the roof and into an alleyway. Naruto thrust his fist into the air and yelled "Yatta!" in triumph… not noticing the explosive tag that the shinobi had left behind.
Kurenai opened her mouth to shout a warning when the rooftop was engulfed in a ball of flame. She was hurled backward, helpless as a leaf in a storm, and curled her body into a ball to control her tumble. She ricocheted off the side of another building and angled toward the alleyway that murderous b*****d had fallen into.
The jonin landed hard on the dirty cobbles, but she regained her balance in time to see a blurry figure fleeing down the haze-filled alleyway. The screams of frightened civilians were distracting, but she knew if the fire crews arrived soon they could confine the fire to a single roof. But that wouldn't help if they couldn't stop the one setting off the explosions.
Her quarry pelted down the alleyway, with Kurenai slowly gaining on him. He was limping a little; proof that Naruto's blows had counted. Her stomach contracted, wondering what happened to her student, but now was not the time…
Especially when Shino had just stepped into the mouth of the alleyway, blocking it.
With a smooth, practiced motion, the shinobi let his right arm fall straight downward at his side. With a sudden twist of his wrist, a pair of sharp metal blades shot out of the end of his sleeve, extending a foot past the back of his hand.
Shino started to turn, but his hands were in his jacket pockets, and he was moving far too slow to avoid…
The nameless shinobi rammed the metal blades into the genin's chest as Kurenai watched, still several paces behind, too far away to do anything as her throat burned with acid. The shinobi twisted his whole body in a powerful motion, and the blades tore through the side of the boy's chest as he exploded in a fountain of… bugs?

The henge wavered and disappeared, and in Shino's place, a large mass of kikai bugs took to the air and settled on the shinobi. Kurenai noticed that a good portion of them seemed to be settling between the shinobi's shoulder blades, where he couldn't easily brush them off.
Half-blinded, the shinobi stumbled out of the alleyway, only to find a small, timid-looking twelve year old girl waiting for him.
OoOoO
Hinata wasn't completely convinced that this was a great idea. But when Naruto signaled her and Shino, she couldn't stop herself. They'd worked out once, while eating a quick lunch at Ichiraku's, what they could do if they were discovered by an enemy scout and needed to capture him or her before they could report back. It seemed so simple in theory, but the execution… she'd heard the explosion, and even though Naruto promised to be careful, she was worried. Shino's Kikai Bunshin looked so real that she almost screamed when she saw the blades poke out of its back.
But everything had worked fairly well up to this point, and now it was down to her. That was the problem. She didn't know why she agreed to take care of the final phase. It made sense, she supposed, in terms of what she could do… but it also meant that if she failed, all their efforts would be for nothing. Naruto and Shino had done their parts perfectly. The target was at least a little damaged, and more importantly was limping. Shino's kikai bugs were now draining his chakra reserves. But now it was Hinata's duty to make sure he didn't slip away to recuperate.
Hinata suddenly felt very small and weak. The shinobi, no matter how bruised, was a fully grown man, like her father. There was no way a weak little girl could hope to stop him. Not one who failed at everything she tried. She just hoped Naruto hadn't gotten hurt for nothing…
Naruto… the thought of her teammate made her chest clench with pain. He'd always encouraged her, always worked with her. He didn't think she was a failure like everyone else did. Now he would know better. Now he would look at her like everyone else, with pity… or contempt, like her father.
Suddenly a new emotion burned in her heart. It was the same one that burned when she saw how the villagers treated Naruto, the same one that burned when she saw how her fellow genins didn't respect him, only now it burned for her.
She wouldn't let Naruto down.
She'd die before she'd let that happen.
She activated her Byakugan, took another step toward her enemy and suddenly everything seemed to slow down. "Divine Sixty-Four Strikes" she whispered and she could see a sudden tracery surrounding them. Time seemed to slow down even more as she became acutely aware of every detail of their relative positions and the angles of their limbs. Her hands began to move like quicksilver traceries, moving around the blades, around his arms, seeking their glowing targets.
Her foe tried to block, tried to counter her flashing hands, but he was too close, too off-balance to stop her completely. Three strikes were deflected before her chakra-emitting fingers brushed across the Tenketsu on his left shoulder, closing it. The joint immediately froze, and the muscles bulging around it gave evidence of his pain. The next series shut down his elbow and wrist on the opposite arm, and now there was no stopping her. Time began to speed up again as she systematically closed his chakra holes in a pattern that would look random to anyone else.
Betrayed by his numbed body, the shinobi fell to his knees and Hinata froze, pulling her last blow, palm quivering an inch from his forehead. The ANBU might want to talk to him, after all. She drew back into a ready position as the man collapsed backwards.
Hinata found herself panting with exertion and discharged nervous tension. Had she actually done that?
A shout from the alleyway snapped her out of her daze. Naruto, looking a little rumpled and ash-streaked, thrust his fist into the air. "Yeah, Hinata! Way to kick his butt!"
She had.
OoOoO
Yuuhi Kurenai was sure that she was getting too old for this. For that matter, she didn't think she'd been born young enough to deal with this. Not only had her genins rushed to engage an unknown enemy, but she'd watched what looked like two of them die from it. She took a deep breath as Naruto cheered a vividly blushing Hinata and the ANBU squad landed in the street.
Their leader, a shinobi wearing a bear mask, inclined his head respectfully toward her. "Good work," he said. "He stole a scroll from the Hokage's tower and led us on quite a chase."
Kurenai pinched the bridge of her nose. The clatter of the fire-wagon was only adding to her headache. "I didn't do this," she said flatly. "My less than obedient genins decided to take matters into their own hands."
The ANBU glanced at each other and then took a closer look at her genins. Shino stepped from behind a doorway and his kikai bugs marched toward him in a steady stream. Naruto, who'd been patting a stunned Hinata on the shoulder looked up at his sensei's words and scowled.
Kurenai held her tongue as the ANBU took down their names and statements, bound up the unconscious shinobi's arms and legs, and carried him off for interrogation. The crew of the fire-wagon had the small fire on the rooftop extinguished as well, so they resumed their journey.
Naruto was still scowling in outrage, but Hinata just looked ashamed. Kurenai began to feel the prickle of her conscience when Shino, of all people broke the silence.
"I understand that disobeying an order is a serious offense, sensei," he said in an even voice, devoid of any tone whatsoever. "However, if you gave us an order not to intervene, I did not hear it. I also understand that, as Konoha Shinobi, we are obligated to assist ANBU members in pursuit of their duties whenever possible."
"That is correct," Kurenai admitted with a sigh. "You three deployed before I had a chance to tell you to stand down."
"Why would you want us to do that?" Naruto asked, "We nailed him good!"
Kurenai turned on her student. "Because you had no way of knowing how powerful he was. He could have killed you all without blinking!"
"But he did not," Shino reminded her.
"That is correct," Kurenai agreed. "You got lucky. Do not forget that."
They were quiet the rest of the way to the Hokage's office. The chuunins guarding his door had evidently heard the news, because the looks they gave Team 8 were oddly respectful.
The Hokage himself was unusually animated, and waved for them to sit down in the chairs provided. "We think we have identified him. He is an infiltrator from Cloud, and he made off with several sensitive documents." He paused theatrically, "Although ranked a jonin, he was a stealth specialist. For all that, he was still capable of directly fighting at a minimum of chuunin level. It's very impressive that your team was able to stop him, Kurenai."
Kurenai shrugged. Over the worst of the shock, she'd recovered some of her equilibrium. "I didn't do much of anything," she admitted wryly. "They did it all without me."
"On the contrary," the Hokage said with a smile, "from the reports, they fought well together as a team. And that is a testament to your training."
Kurenai blinked. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
"As a reward for assisting in the capture of a dangerous fugitive, I'm awarding you pay equivalent to a C-rank mission," the Hokage said with a smile. Before Kurenai could do more than open her mouth he continued, "That's at least the rank of mission I'd have to assign to get those scrolls back – and that to an entire hunter team. Besides, by the time everything had been straightened out, the remainder of today's D-rank missions had been taken."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kurenai repeated.
"I think," the Hokage continued, "that this, along with all the D-rank missions you've accomplished, qualifies you for your first true C-rank mission. Come back tomorrow and we will have the details ready for your first border patrol."  

[Pandora Green]

Chapter 5
Hinata was still a little shaky when she arrived at the Hyuuga compound. Kurenai-sensei suggested that they should forgo their normal evening training and make sure they got a full night's sleep. Depending on their assignment, they may have to set out immediately. Though she understood the reasons, Hinata was disappointed that she and Naruto wouldn't get to eat the dinner she'd packed that morning. She thought the shitake udon had come out rather well, and she wanted to see Naruto's face when he tasted it. Perhaps she could pack some for their journey to the border.
Though she'd come home earlier than usual, the main house was still quiet. Her father must be occupied with the village council again. She felt herself relax for a moment before she realized what she was doing and chided herself for her disrespect. He was still her father, and it was… unseemly… for her to be glad at his absence. Worse, he would probably detect her disloyal feelings when he returned, and it would be his duty to punish her for failing to show proper respect.
"Hinata?" her father's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she hated herself for the way she jumped. Her fear was unworthy of a Hyuuga.
"Yes father?" she replied in a quiet, but precise voice. If she could take down an enemy spy, surely she could talk to her own father.
"You will follow me to the training room," he said, walking down the hallway without another word.
Hinata followed, her bare feet silent on the polished wood. When she reached the Dojo, Father was waiting for her, along with her cousin and younger sister. Neji was as impassive as ever, though she wondered if his eyes smoldered with resentment when no one else could see. Hanabi was openly glowering, the expression on her face at odds with the graceful features she'd inherited from their mother.
Hinata's own face seemed to be a mixture of her father and mother, in varying amounts. There was a touch of the clan leader in the line of her brows, and the angle of her jaw… the latter of course rarely visible given the way she tended to duck her head around others. Hanabi, on the other hand, was the very image of their mother, a woman the younger girl had never known. Hinata remembered that beloved face though, and savored the memories of the kind-hearted woman who'd treasured her only daughter.
Of course, that made it difficult to fight with Hanabi. One look at those eyes, no matter how angry they seemed, always softened her hands. Her heartache and longing for the only person who seemed to understand her, to treasure her, had no place in the sparring ring. Nevertheless, they intruded constantly, sapping her will to fight. No matter how disappointed her father became with her, Hinata couldn't force herself to hate her sister, to strike her down as he demanded during their sparring matches.
So it was inevitable that Hanabi would triumph against her larger, but mostly passive, sister. Father had first been amazed at Hanabi's prowess, and it lifted Hinata's heart a little to see her sister smile as she basked under Father's praise. But eventually his surprise turned to disappointment in his oldest daughter, who could not hold her own against a girl several years her junior. Hanabi continued to work hard, thriving under Father's amazed tutelage, while Hinata was always more and more of a disappointment.
Today was no different from any other, though perhaps Hanabi's expression was a little more fierce than usual. Hinata briefly wondered about this, before her father's voice derailed her train of thought.
"I am to understand," he said in a low voice, "if certain members of ANBU are to be believed, that you played a role in the capture of a spy today?"
Hinata's heart contracted into a hard lump at the patina of frost that overlaid her father's words. She'd thought about telling him herself when she saw him, hoping he would be proud of her. But he'd already heard about it, and did not seem happy at the news. "H-hai," she said in a faltering voice.
"I am told," he continued, emphasizing the last word, "that you utilized an advanced technique to disable your opponent."
"A-ano, my teammates also–" She began.
"I do not care about them," her father snapped. "And you will not speak of that low-born trash again. It is your behavior that reflects on our clan, not theirs. Hanabi, assume a guard position."
Hanabi made a half-turn, moving smoothly into a basic Jyuuken defensive stance. Her eyes bored into Hinata's and Hinata knew her sister did not like the news she had heard.
"Hinata, you will now demonstrate this technique of yours," her father commanded.
Hinata stared at her sister and swallowed. She remembered the state of mind she'd been in, the determination to stop her foe or die trying, the determination to not let her team down, the determination to show Naruto what she could do. She felt none of that now, in front of the cold eyes of her family, quailing before the rage and… something else burning in her sister's eyes. Was it fear? Hinata did not want to hurt her, even for Father. "Otou-san, I…"
"As I suspected," he said coolly, "your role in this was exaggerated, possibly in a misguided attempt to curry favor with the clan. I knew you were weak, Hinata, but to find that you lack honor as well? This is very disappointing."
"Gomen, Otou-san, but I… I did not know you were told of…" Hinata's voice trailed off. She didn't want to lie, but she also didn't want to have to attack her sister's Tenketsu points. Hinata wasn't even sure she could do it now if she wanted to. That moment in the street… she'd briefly possessed a moment of sublime clarity. And now… now she felt like she was veiled in heavy fabric, closing in her vision, muffling her voice, stifling her breathing. Maybe it was better that her father didn't know of it. Her moment was brief and had now passed. She let out an inaudible sigh and hung her head. Hanabi's quiet snort of contempt was all the more noticeable.
"Perhaps you did not know of that," Hiashi allowed. The constriction in her chest loosened a little and she dared look up again. "But it is important that you and Hanabi be made aware of the differences between the basic Jyuuken techniques you use, and the truly advanced moves used by those who mastered more of our clan's style. Neji will assist me in demonstrating some of these techniques for you." His eyes hardened. "We will take all night if it is necessary."
"A-ano, Otou-san," Hinata said quickly, tightening her fingers on the hem of her jacket to keep them from shaking, "I have been instructed to prepare tonight for a mission of at least a week's duration."
The Dojo was deadly quiet, and in the stillness, Hinata thought she might have sensed Neji's left eyebrow move a millimeter upward.
Her father's voice was as hard as a kunai and would brook no compromise. "Then you had better learn quickly," he said in an emotionless voice, that to Hinata's practiced ear carried the overtones of a snarl.
OoOoO
Aburame Shino returned home to find his father and mother waiting for him. As it was a little early for his father to be home, he regarded them with a raised eyebrow. "Mother, Father," he greeted them with a deferential nod.
Aburame Shibi regarded his son with a neutral expression, his eyes hidden behind equally dark glasses. "One of my colleagues," he said quietly, "informed me of your actions earlier today."
"I see," Shino said.
"The ANBU were quite impressed," his father continued. "Your Kikai-Bunshin was apparently flawless, and proved capable of deceiving a Jonin. The direction of your allies afterward was precise and timely, and their positioning above the thoracic vertebrae made quick removal impossible. Our relatives are quite impressed with your skill."
"More importantly," his mother interrupted, smiling broadly, "we're proud of you." Misato was not a typical member of the Aburame clan. This made sense, as she was a kunoichi his father had met on a diplomatic mission to the Hidden Village of Mist. She was, however, as fascinated with insects as the rest of his relatives, and her 'mantis-style' fighting, using twin serrated blades that mimicked the claws of a praying mantis, had evidently intrigued the enigmatic Konoha shinobi.
Despite common interests, Misato was different. She actually smiled occasionally, and was far more emotionally demonstrative than the other members of a very reserved and dignified clan. Shino noted that his father neither encouraged nor discouraged these displays of sentiment… but his attention always seemed fixed upon her while they were happening, which was probably enough by itself. From listening to conversations he was supposedly too young to understand, Shino realized that many Aburames were less than sanguine about having one of their clan's most gifted practitioners marrying someone outside the bloodline. However, Shino's rapid development banished their fears, and led to his father raising a mildly sardonic eyebrow and remarking upon "hybrid vigor".
But Shino had better things to do than bask in his parents' regard, no matter how pleasant. Unanswered questions nagged at the back of his mind, like splinters embedded in flesh, and only answers would give relief. "I appreciate your sentiments, but the role I played in the capture was largely peripheral. While I did drain the subject's chakra reserves, Uzumaki Naruto made the original interception and assault, while Hyuuga Hinata performed the actual takedown."
"Your modesty and sense of teamwork do you credit," his father observed.
Shino nodded almost imperceptibly. "Perhaps. I have been surprised at Naruto's progress in his training, especially with the expectations I had gleaned from others, both in and out of the academy," he observed coolly.
As expected, both of his parents flinched a little at the import of his words, and glanced at each other. "If you have first hand knowledge of something," his father said carefully, "it is probably better to rely upon that, instead of second-hand observations."
"My question is the source of those second-hand observations," Shino replied, bearing down on the cause of his mental distractions of late.
His mother grimaced and rolled her eyes. "I think I'll see about dinner," she said as she left the room, shaking her head.
Shino was left with his father, who seemed unusually agitated… for an Aburame, at least. Finally, he sighed and actually grimaced himself, the rare expression curling his thin moustache. "There are… restrictions placed around certain pieces of information. As a resident of Konoha, I am required to honor those restrictions. In light of your… observations these last few weeks, I will allow that the implications of… certain facts… may have been misinterpreted or exaggerated."
"You are picking your words with great care," Shino observed.
"Correct," his father agreed. "I am attempting to avoid committing a capital offense."
Shino didn't even bother trying to keep his eyebrows from rising above his glasses. Unlike some hidden villages, there were not a lot of laws in Konoha that carried a death penalty. Outright treason could merit such a punishment, but what would that have to do with his teammate? None of this made sense, but it wasn't surprising that he couldn't puzzle out the meaning – not if he wasn't even allowed to see all the pieces. "Given what you know, that I do not," he asked, "what would you do in my place?"
His father seemed to relax a little, though an outsider would have been hard-pressed to notice the difference. "I would continue as you have, keeping your eyes open. If you perchance discover something… unusual… remember what I said about first-hand knowledge being superior."
"I will… attempt to keep that in mind," Shino promised.
OoOoO
Naruto stayed behind for a moment as his teammates left. Kurenai looked at him curiously as he cleared his throat. "Ano, Kurenai-sensei, I was wondering about our pay for… for this afternoon."
She nodded toward the opened envelope in Naruto's hands. "Yes, that is normally done for higher-ranked missions. Given their simplicity and lack of risk, D-rank missions are usually paid out of the Hokage's petty cash. But for higher-ranked missions, they often do not have the funds on hand required to pay the shinobi. So they use vouchers like you have there. It's just a slip of paper, stamped with the Hokage's seal, but any bank or moneylender in Konoha will redeem it for the amount listed. A simple jutsu bound to the seal will consume it instantly if anyone tries to alter it."
Naruto nodded intently as she explained the reasons for the vouchers, but as she finished he sighed and his shoulders seemed to slump. "I wonder if Old Man Ichiraku can…" he muttered.
At that point, Kurenai made the connection and mentally kicked herself. If she'd been thinking ahead, she could have already dealt with this in a manner less embarrassing for the boy. "Ah, you still need to set up a bank account, don't you?"
Naruto nodded, his face flushing a little. Kurenai actually found the normally brash genin to be a little more appealing when he was flustered like this. She idly wondered what effect that would have on Hinata, and how she could bring such an event to pass. Perhaps later, in a year or two… She abandoned that train of thought for the issue before her. "Well, I need to go deposit my voucher, since the Hokage saw fit to reward me for doing little more than watching you three fight. Come with me and I'll show you how to set up a bank account."
Naruto nodded gratefully, and Kurenai congratulated herself for finding a way to help him that didn't seem like a large imposition on her part. As they left the Hokage's tower and made their way through the rising dinner-time foot traffic, Kurenai increased their pace to a fast walk. The bank she used typically stayed open until dinner in order to accommodate the tradesmen who were the bulk of their clientele.
Their first significant delay occurred outside the bank itself. Two large, brawny men in heavy armor and carrying naginatas were on duty at the entrance. Their size and equipment were intended more to deter casual thieves than real shinobi, but their bladed pole arms were blocking the entrance. "You are still open," she observed coolly, "I can see customers inside."
"You may enter," the one on the left said gruffly, "but not him."
Naruto flinched a little, seemingly in spite of himself, and Kurenai felt even more ashamed of her village. But now was not the time for softer emotions. "You tread a dangerous path," she hissed. "This boy was just rewarded by the Hokage for intercepting an enemy jonin that had outrun the ANBU. The spy is now back at the tower, entertaining Ibiki." She used the interrogation specialist's name quite deliberately, and was gratified to see the grown men shudder at her words, even as Naruto scratched his head.
"Be that as it may," the older one on the right said slowly, "we have specific orders regarding the boy."
Kurenai frowned. These men could lose their positions if they disobeyed a direct order, but who would issue such a command? Previously, the animosity toward the Jinchuuriki seemed to be more personal and unorganized. Was someone attempting to provoke Naruto into doing something that would discredit him in the eyes of the village, and perhaps cost him the Hokage's protection? "I think I understand," she said slowly. "Your superiors may be concerned about a prank of some sort. I can assure you that this is a legitimate task, and that he will perform no pranks within this building. You have my word as a jonin that I will assume full responsibility for his behavior inside." She hoped they would seize upon this pretext to placate their superiors.
The two guards glanced at each other for a moment. Then the older one nodded and they each moved their naginata aside, breathing a sigh of relief. Noting that, Kurenai realized that she'd been bringing considerable amounts of killer intent to bear on them. Her anger at Naruto's treatment had become stronger, rather than weaker, over time, but she was still mildly surprised at this lapse in control. Even if it had made convincing them to accept her word easier, it was still unprofessional.
Naruto was on his best behavior as they entered, looking around curiously. The décor was understated, but a bit nicer than most of the stores he'd likely seen. She guided them toward the counter when the second delay, in the form of the manager, stepped into their path.
"I am sorry, Madam Yuuhi," the unctuous middle-aged man said, using a form of address that Kurenai did not appreciate, "but as it is late in the day, we are not opening new accounts at this time. I understand that there is another bank, not far from here, that remains open-"
The man's smile was just a little too smug, and Kurenai could already guess where this would go. They would get re-directed from bank to bank, branch to branch, until they were left with a seedy moneylender who charged usurious rates, or simply gave up in disgust. "Very well," she snapped, "clear out my account, bring me the funds, in cash, and I will return to the Hokage's Tower to inform him that his vouchers are no longer accepted at your bank."
The manager paled suddenly. As a moderate workaholic with modest tastes and a house she'd inherited from her parents, Kurenai's savings were considerable. In cash, it would be an inconvenient mass, but she didn't really care at this point. Besides, people walking out of a bank with unusually large amounts of coin tended to spawn rumors that there was something wrong, rumors that could become self-fulfilling prophecies if they started a run on the bank. Especially if the other shinobi heard he had refused a voucher…
Now the man looked trapped, and Kurenai really wanted to know why. "I'm sure that will not be necessary," he said quickly.
"Then we should get started immediately," Kurenai replied in a deceptively mild tone. "I don't want to keep your subordinates here too long, but we both leave for a mission in the morning."
The manager appeared to be thinking for a moment, but then nodded suddenly. "As all of my employees are helping customers, I will assist you myself."
Kurenai was suspicious of his suddenly cooperative mood, but allowed them both to be lead to his office. The actual process to set up a basic account was fairly simple: Naruto just needed to sign several legal documents, none of which he bothered to read first. While Kurenai supposed she should be touched by his trust in her, she resolved to discuss with him the proper way to analyze a legal document – preferably before signing them. If, no, she corrected herself, when he became Hokage, he would need to be very careful in what he signed.
As they finished the documents, Naruto reluctantly handed over the pay voucher that had prompted this entire expedition. The manager's eyes widened a little when he saw the sum written by the Hokage's hand. The Sandaime had been generous, but he was correct that it was less than he would have expended on a Hunter-Nin squad if the spy had escaped. Looking at the manager, she decided to grind the kunai into the bone a little more. Taking out her own voucher, she left it on his desk while she plucked a deposit envelope from the stack. Seemingly of their own volition, the man's eyes wandered over to her slip, allowing him to see that it was the same size as Naruto's.
Smiling sweetly, Kurenai nodded. "The Hokage was quite generous, but Naruto and his team did intercept a jonin who'd stolen scrolls from the Hokage's tower, and was successfully evading an entire ANBU squad. Naruto intercepted him, and his teammates finished him off well before the ANBU arrived." Looking directly into the man's eyes, she gestured at her voucher. "All before I could do anything. I got that just for training them, the Hokage was so impressed… he didn't even care that they'd beaten me to the punch."
The manager now looked almost nauseous with fear. Kurenai was tempted to arrange for a loud, sudden sound – just to see if he would flee in terror. She glanced over at her student. Naruto's prankster spirit appeared to be rubbing off on her in some ways she hadn't anticipated.
For his own part, Naruto's face was pink from her words. He scratched at the back of his head and cracked a nervous grin. "Ano, Sensei, you say too much. All I did was-"
"All you did," Kurenai interjected, "was volunteer to make the initial interception. Facing a fresh enemy, that's the most dangerous role. Not only did you stop him, but you also damaged him so he could no longer get away from us or the ANBU."
Naruto shrugged. "I'm supposed to protect my teammates, right?"
Kurenai smiled at her student. He'd embraced his role within the team to a greater degree than she'd hoped. Hinata was inevitable, she supposed, all her machinations aside, but he was also seeking to protect Shino as well. "You are exactly correct, Uzumaki-san," she replied in a formal tone, making the boy blush again. Turning to their somewhat dumbstruck audience of one, her voice lost some of its warmth. "Is there anything else?" she asked.
The manager shook his head quickly, but Naruto spoke up. "Sensei, this puts all of the voucher-thing in my account, correct? What if I want to keep some of the money myself?"
"The money in your account belongs to you as well," Kurenai clarified. "And you can pull out as much of it as you want at any time. When you deposit a voucher, you can request that a portion of it be given to you as cash."
"How much should I deposit and how much should I keep?" he asked. Kurenai noticed that when he was trying to wrestle with an unfamiliar concept, Naruto tended to tune out everything else. Right now he was totally focused on her, ignoring the manager who'd angered them so much earlier. Kurenai found it a particularly satisfying experience as a teacher, to have such an attentive student hanging on her words. Those fools at the academy… she mused.
"You should, at a minimum, try to save at least a third of what you make, and try not to touch it except for emergencies. If you can, save more…" Kurenai answered, her voice trailing off as she wondered how best to explain what she wanted to say. "It's like carrying kunai," she continued after a moment. "How many is a Konoha shinobi required to carry?"
"Three for active duty," Naruto replied automatically, his voice taking on the sing-song tone of a well-memorized fact.
Well, Iruka would at least make sure he was well-grounded in the basics, she mused. "And how many do you carry, Naruto?"
"Er, well…" he hesitated, glancing at the manager, "a lot more."
Kurenai smiled slightly at his caution with an operational secret. Another test passed. "And why is that, Naruto?"
"Because you never know when you might need more than three," he said, shrugging. Then his eyes widened as he made the connection. "So money is like kunai?" he asked.
She nodded. "Correct, it's better to have more than you need than not enough. And since we are leaving for a mission tomorrow, you likely will not need much money in your pockets, will you? I would deposit all of that, and then when you return, you will have another voucher waiting for you. I imagine you'll be eager to visit Ichiraku at that point, yes?"
Naruto nodded eagerly as he filled out the deposit slip and slid his voucher into the stiff paper. When he finished, he looked up expectantly.
"Very good, Naruto," Kurenai said approvingly. "When we return to Konoha, I will show you how to use an account register so you can keep track of your money. For right now, I need to have a few words with the manager about my account. You should probably have a good supper and try to get to sleep early. We'll be getting an early start tomorrow, remember we are meeting at the Hokage's tower at nine. Don't be late."
When the genin left the office, Kurenai returned her attention to the manager, who had partially regained his composure. "Explain yourself," she snapped.
"I… I do not know what you mean," the man stammered, taken off guard by her abrupt change in demeanor.
"You attempted to refuse service to a Konoha shinobi who has done nothing to you and yours. He was nearly killed this afternoon protecting shopkeepers and merchants from an enemy jonin who was entirely too careless with explosive tags. Now, when he's trying to cash in his reward, given directly to him by the Hokage, you try to turn us away. Rudeness and abuse he is all too familiar with, but this is different, isn't it? You knew if he went to another bank, he'd get the same treatment, didn't you?" Kurenai's red eyes bored into the watery brown ones possessed by the manager, and below the edge of his desk, her fingers quickly formed the seals she needed.
The genjutsu she cast was a fairly subtle one, designed to get the truth from those who did not wish to reveal it. It didn't force the subject to speak, but it inspired a certain terror of the caster, and a profound fear of being caught in a lie. Its effectiveness was inversely proportional to the subject's strength of will, making it nearly useless on shinobi, and she knew someone like Ibiki would consider it an effeminate substitute for his interrogation skills. On the other hand, if the seals were concealed from view, the subject might not even be aware he'd been placed under a genjutsu.
Of course, using it on a Konoha citizen was rather questionable, and something that could have earned her a long explanation with the Konoha Military Police, before they were decimated. At the least, it would still earn her an interview with the Hokage if it were discovered. On the other hand, she felt that her observations gave her probable cause to expect that there was some sort of organized resistance to Naruto's presence in Konoha. As that was an attempt to subvert the spirit, if not the letter of the Hokage's law concerning the boy, she felt that she could skate on that issue if it came down to it.
The manager's words dispelled these concerns in an instant. "I didn't know for sure, but I did suspect," he answered nervously, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but talking to this furious kunoichi. "T-there was a gathering of the bankers and moneylenders after the last Village Council meeting. Our representative to the Council of Elders said that we were to… discourage… the boy from patronizing our establishments. If he became violent in any way when refused service, we were to call ANBU immediately."
"I see," Kurenai said, but she really didn't. "And why this sudden change in policy?"
"I do not know," the man said, sagging fearfully. "Many people in our guild would prefer not having him in Konoha," he said hesitantly. "But I think this originally came from the Council," he added.
"Very well," Kurenai said, releasing the subtle genjutsu as she stood up. "I would carefully consider whether you wish to involve yourself in this vendetta some Elder seems to have against the boy. He's ambitious, he works harder than anyone his age, and he's gained the attention of the Sandaime and several senior shinobi with his actions today. He swears he will be Hokage someday, and damned if I don't think he might realize his dream. That will not bode well for anyone that stood in his path to the tower. I will be showing him how to keep track of his account, and for your sake there had better be no 'irregularities' in his balance, or I will personally destroy you. Have I made myself clear?"
The man nodded quickly, so Kurenai spun on her heel and stalked out of the office. After dinner, she'd likely be throwing kunai at the old stump behind her house for an hour before she would be able to sleep. That actually wasn't a bad idea, she reflected as she stepped out onto the street. She needed to do some thinking. Something had changed in Konoha, and she needed to understand what it was, how it would affect her charges, and ultimately her own plans.
OoOoO
The manager, his mind still reeling from the aftereffects of terror, could only nod dumbly at the jonin's warning. He breathed a sigh of relief as she left his office. After several minutes regaining his composure, he shakily rose to his feet. Clutching the documents the two had signed like a life preserver, he made his way to the central counting room to make sure both transactions were entered into the books accurately. He would just report that the boy's jonin hadn't given him any choice in the matter and threatened to report him directly to the Hokage. No one would blame him in that case. And he would also make sure that Yuuhi Kurenai never had cause to speak to him again.
OoOoO
With no evening training scheduled, Naruto decided that a leisurely dinner at Ichiraku's was just what the medic-nin ordered. Surprisingly, the old man had heard about the disturbance downtown, and knew his best customer had been involved. Naruto blinked at the idea of villagers talking about him, and not in the hateful manner he was accustomed to.
At that point, there was nothing to be done but to give a blow-by-blow account of the battle. To his credit, he dwelled as much on his teammates' exploits as his own. In particular, he was impressed by whatever the heck Hinata had done. He'd rolled out of the wreckage right as the jonin reached her, so he'd seen clearly what she did, but that didn't help him understand. He'd never seen her use a technique like that before. Even as hyped up and excited as he'd been from the fighting, her hands were still small white blurs to his eyes. And when she was done, the jonin just dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.  

[Pandora Green]

Old man Ichiraku smiled as the boy described his teammate's attacks with wild gestures, sound effects, gushing praise. "You know," he observed, "times have changed. When I was your age, girls impressed boys with a pretty kimono, or an elaborate hairstyle with bejeweled pins. Now they do it by beating the hell out of people." He sighed theatrically, suppressing a laugh as Naruto's eyes bulged out comically. "Maybe it's different for kunoichi," he continued. "It's probably cheaper than spending all that money on finery," he laughed, earning a dirty look from Ayame as she set another bowl down in front of blushing Naruto.
"It's not like that," Naruto protested. "She's really good. She works super hard and will do whatever it takes to improve herself. She's probably upset we didn't get to train tonight. It's like…" his voice trailed off as he thought for a moment, chewing the hot noodles. Kurenai was trying to teach him how to look 'underneath the underneath', but it was awfully hard to do it all the time. "It's like she has something to prove," he finally said. Then he nodded. "I think that's exactly it, but I don't know what she's trying to prove, or to who."
The old man gave him a vaguely superior smile that made Naruto nervous for some reason. "I'm sure you'll figure it out, eventually, Naruto. Another bowl of Miso?"
Naruto nodded as his chopsticks moved in a blur. A few moments later he put them down and lifted the bowl, draining the savory liquid. He looked up as a familiar presence sat down next to him.
"Ohayo, Iruka-sensei!" he said, greeting his former teacher.
"Hello, Naruto," the chuunin said with a smile. "I see you got started without me." He'd treated Naruto to a few bowls of Ramen since their ordeal in the forest with Mizuki. They didn't talk much about what had been said that night, but they didn't really seem to need to.
"My treat tonight, sensei!" Naruto said happily. Kurenai's lessons on propriety and etiquette were not completely wasted on the genin. He understood that it wasn't appropriate for him to empty Iruka's wallet every time they met.
Iruka's eyebrows raised in surprise. "What is the occasion?" he asked curiously.
Naruto shrugged. "I just felt like I should pay sometimes. Besides I got a good bonus today."
"Oh?" Iruka asked.
"We were coming back from our first d-rank mission, and we saw some ANBU chasing this guy…" Naruto's voice lowered as he launched into a re-telling of the day's battle, this time using more ninja terminology that Iruka would understand.
When he was done, the young man sat on his stool in shock, a bowl of beef ramen cooling untouched before him. "I heard that Kurenai-sama had been involved in the capture… but not her genins…" he whispered, his voice trailing off. Then his eyes hardened, drawing the scar across the bridge of his nose tight. "What the hell was she thinking, letting you fight a jonin?" he demanded, suddenly furious.
Naruto blinked, eyes wide, he'd rarely seen Iruka really lose his temper like this – not the mock-exasperation he used on recalcitrant students at the Konoha Ninja Academy. "Sensei… we… she didn't order us to attack. She was going to have us hide behind a genjutsu, but we were already moving before she realized…" he explained, his words stumbling over each other.
"Then this was your idea?" Iruka demanded, but his voice had lost most of its harshness. "What were you thinking? He could have killed all of you!"
Now it was Naruto's turn to frown. "Not really," he claimed. "It was actually pretty easy, since we'd worked it out ahead of time."
"Easy?" Iruka asked incredulously, "you could have been incinerated when those tags went off!"
Naruto shook his head. "I knew that guy liked to make explosions, so if I couldn't get clear, I was ready to do a Kawarimi no Jutsu and swap with one of my Kage Bunshins."
Iruka's eyebrows went up. "You can swap with one of your clones?" he asked, clearly impressed.
Naruto nodded. "It's pretty easy," he answered, "since we're already the same shape."
"Yes, but usually the jutsu will disrupt the clone before it can complete," Iruka clarified. "Your Bunshin must be very sturdy," he observed, frowning.
Naruto shrugged. "If I'm concentrating the right way when I mold the chakra, it takes a pretty solid blow to destroy them." He nodded thanks to Ayame when she replaced his bowl. He took a big bite of noodles while they were still hot, enjoying the texture while Iruka sat staring into the distance. After he swallowed he poked his former teacher in the shoulder, startling him. "Your ramen is getting cold," he reminded him with a cheeky grin. "Besides, everything went according to plan."
"Plan?" Iruka asked as he began eating his ramen.
"Shino, Hinata, and I worked out ahead of time how we would stop someone who was carrying vital information. I would intercept and slow him down, Shino would drain off his chakra, and Hinata would take him down with her Jyuuken," Naruto explained, smiling. "That was the plan and it worked out just right."
Iruka shook his head as he swallowed. "I still have trouble believing you attacked a jonin head-on," he admitted.
"Well, my clones did the first attack," he admitted. "This guy wasn't a big taijutsu specialist, not like Gai-sensei or Lee. I understand he was more of a sneaking-around guy." He shrugged. "If he'd handled my clones like Gai, or even Lee, I'd have had to improvise, you know?"
"Yes, Naruto, but even a chuunin should have been… " now Iruka's eyes narrowed again. "You mentioned doing some extra training with Gai and Lee… how much have you been training?"
Naruto shrugged as he drained the broth from another bowl. "Three hours every morning since the day after I left the academy. Gai explains Taijutsu a lot better than Mizuki ever did," he answered, his mouth twisting with distaste at the mention of the traitor who'd deceived him and nearly killed both of them.
Iruka's eyes had gone wide. "How do you have time to train with your team, or do missions?" he asked incredulously.
As Naruto matter-of-factly explained his daily routine, Iruka's ramen was left untouched as his eyes grew wider. When he was done, the chuunin, stood abruptly, excused himself and left. "I'm sorry, Naruto," he said, "I just remembered something I forgot to do, and I need to take care of it immediately," he explained. "Thank you for the ramen." He marched off with an angry expression on his face that confused Naruto.
Then the blond-haired boy shrugged and ordered a bowl of pork ramen. He needed to fortify himself for a very long period of ramen-less patrolling.
OoOoO
Kurenai managed to vent most of her frustrations on an unoffending stump in her backyard when she heard the bell at the front gate to her property. The cottage on the outskirts of Konoha was fairly modest – her parents were middle-class merchants before they were killed in a fire while staying at an inn – so it only took a few moments for her to walk around to the front. It wasn't hard for her to recognize the shadowy figure standing under the lantern hanging from the gate post. She'd wondered when he'd be showing up.
"Umino Iruka," she said by way of greeting.
"Kurenai-sama," the chuunin said shortly.
"What brings you here?" she asked. If he was going to be that way, she'd match his directness.
"Naruto," he said coldly.
"Ah," she replied. "Would you like to come inside?" she asked.
Iruka nodded, and she opened the gate and led him up the stone-lined path to the front porch. They were silent as they removed their sandals at the door, and Kurenai hung the bandolier of practice kunai on a hook. Iruka accepted a seat in her living room, while she retired to the kitchen to prepare tea. While her parents had preferred western-influenced architecture for their home, Kurenai grew up in a household with very traditional customs. As such, a guest was not entertained without some offer of refreshment.
Besides, making tea gave her a chance to think, even as it gave Iruka a chance to cool off. The chuunin did seem somewhat more composed as he accepted his tea with a polite nod.
Kurenai decided to wait him out. That put her into a marginally stronger position and increased the odds that she could convince him to cooperate, or at least not interfere. She knew Naruto was close to his old teacher, one of the first adults to accept him for what he was, instead of what they feared he was. Her interview with the man shortly after her team was assigned revealed that his feelings for the boy were genuine, and not feigned. But… he was also a worrier. He knew Naruto had not received the best training at the Konoha Ninja Academy, and practically begged her to take it easy on him, and not expose him to undue risks. Knowing this, she knew he could not have been happy with Naruto's involvement in the skirmish earlier that day.
Kurenai knew she needed this man on her side, with regards to Naruto's training and development. She knew from her studies that the boy needed some sort of male role-model. The Sandaime was far too remote to serve in that role, and Iruka was far more suitable than Maito Gai. If she could not convince him of the rightness of her actions, his influence on Naruto would act counter to hers, perhaps sapping the boy's determination to succeed, and she could not have that. So she waited, observing his demeanor from the corner of her eye, and silently marshaled her arguments.
"Naruto treated me to dinner tonight," Iruka began. "He was quite proud of himself after he and two other genins fought a jonin." His emphasis on the last word made it sound like a particularly vile epithet.
"They nearly stopped my heart when I realized they were not behind me," Kurenai admitted in a wry voice, visibly startling Iruka. "Like you," she continued, "I did not think they were ready for such a challenge. Usually, when I have those thoughts, I am quickly proven wrong, but I would not casually gamble with their lives. They were already moving to engage before I could stop them."
"I see," Iruka murmured. "I am glad that you were not encouraging them to take such risks. But when I asked Naruto why he was so confident, he mentioned his training schedule. Is there a reason to work the boy so hard?"
Kurenai nodded. The question was valid, and she needed to answer it if she wanted the chuunin's support. "What would he be doing if he is not training?"
Iruka started to answer, but then stopped. Kurenai knew that most genins liked to spend time with their families, or with their friends. But Naruto didn't have the first and possessed very few of the latter. It was no wonder he'd begun pulling pranks – he'd had no other way to occupy his time. Iruka sighed and changed his approach. "Aren't you afraid of burning him out with all this?"
Kurenai nodded. "If he were any other genin, I would say yes in a minute. But for the first time in his life, he has people explaining things to him, showing him exactly how to do things, and he is seeing daily progress instead of redoubled frustration." She held up her hand as Iruka scowled and opened his mouth. "I know you actually tried to help him, but you were only one of many teachers, in a place he'd already learned to associate with boredom and ridicule. I'm amazed he learned as much from you as he did, under those conditions."
Iruka nodded slowly as he seemed to consider her words with care. "But will making him stronger really make him happy?" he finally asked.
Kurenai let out a sigh of her own. "I hope so," she said with a bit more candor than she'd intended. Iruka's unexpected open-mindedness prompted a more frank response than she might have preferred. But trust was a two-way street between shinobi: it had to be given as well as received. "You know of his grand ambition?"
Iruka nodded, smiling faintly.
"The first step to achieving that goal," she said calmly, "lies in becoming as proficient a shinobi as possible, and as quickly as possible."
Iruka's eyebrows lifted in an almost comical fashion. "You really think Uzumaki Naruto will become Hokage?"
"Eventually?" Kurenai asked. "I think anything is possible. Someone will have to follow Sarutobi. He's very wise, but he won't live forever. I don't see any strong candidates for his successor, do you?"
Iruka slowly shook his head. "Not like the Fourth was. No one stands out the way he did."
"I think Konoha could do much worse than someone like Naruto," Kurenai said quietly. "He has a kind heart and a determination to do the right thing. I have seen this in the way he trains, and the way he treats his teammates. The only thing I am unsure of is whether he will even want to be Hokage by the time he is ready… or if he will have come to hate the village by then."
Iruka looked crestfallen as Kurenai related her experiences trying to get Naruto properly equipped. He was visibly shocked as she related the Hokage's words about the recalcitrant villagers, and how they circumvented the spirit of the Hokage's law, even while conforming to the letter. He rubbed his chin as she related what she'd learned at the bank, not even reacting when she mentioned using the interrogation genjutsu on the manager. "I will investigate this while you are gone on this patrol mission," he said absently. "Maybe I can uncover who is trying to drive Naruto from Konoha. If this action did originate on the Village Council, then the identities of the plotters should be difficult to conceal."
"That would be good to know," she agreed. She was a little surprised that he'd come around to her viewpoint so quickly. He displayed an unusual degree of mental flexibility, especially for a man.
"Well, I'd better be going. I have class in the morning, and you have a mission to prepare for," he said, standing up. "Thank you for the tea," he said formally.
"I'm glad we had this talk," she said as she led him to the front door.
With his sandals on, Iruka lingered in her doorway for a moment. He opened his mouth a couple of times, only to close it. "Please, take care of Naruto," he finally said in a small voice.
"I will do all that I can," she replied. She wished she could make a more positive reply, but past experience had shown her that good intentions and a strong will couldn't guarantee anything, no matter how desperately one might want them to.
"Good night," Iruka said in a somber voice, bowing slightly.
Kurenai watched him turn and walk off into the darkness.
OoOoO
Naruto had gotten to the point where he awoke before his alarm more than half the time. Avoiding painful shocks seemed to be a more than sufficient motivator for his subconscious. He dressed quickly and hefted the heavy backpack he'd so carefully loaded the night before. Then he locked up his apartment and headed for his daily meeting with Gai-sensei and Lee.
Maito Gai had already heard about the previous day's fight, but asked that Naruto tell it again from his viewpoint. By the time the blond shinobi had finished, Lee was practically vibrating.
"Yes! Naruto-san, you have shown everyone the power of your youth!" the genin with the bowl cut shouted, leaping up with one fist punching the air.
Naruto winced and rubbed at his ear. "Yeah, I guess we did, a little," he agreed with a grin.
Lee's eyes were lit with a strange fire when he turned to his teacher. "Gai-sensei? Do you think there will be another attempt to steal the Hokage's scroll? Maybe we could patrol around the tower and catch the next one…"
Gai looked a bit alarmed at this, and Naruto quickly cleared his throat. "Er, Lee, I don't think that's such a good idea," he said quickly. "If a stealth-specialist was caught, they might send someone who's more of a generalist or heavy combat type next time. Also, remember I was with my whole team at the time, and they did a lot of the work."
"Yes!" Gai exclaimed, giving Naruto a thumbs-up. "Naruto has demonstrated that he knows the true meaning of teamwork, Lee." Then his brows lowered dramatically as he turned fully toward Lee. "He understands that a team can do far more than an individual alone. Do not seek the path of false glory, Lee! Trust your sensei to steer you correctly!"
Lee immediately burst into tears and began sobbing apologies to his teacher as Naruto broke out into a cold sweat. After two overly-passionate choruses of "Gai-sensei! Lee!" Naruto loudly cleared his throat.
The green spandex-clad shinobis looked up from their tearful embrace.
"Er, the Hokage said he's going to send us on a C-rank patrol mission now, and I need to report to the Hokage's tower by nine. I wanted to let you know that I'll be out of the village for at least a few days," Naruto said, struggling to keep his voice even.
Gai nodded thoughtfully as Lee regained his composure. "We will await your return. Try to train as much as you can while you are away. You've made good progress here, Naruto, and it would be a shame to see you lose your edge while you are gone."
Naruto barked "Hai!" and made a quick bow to the man who, however odd, had nonetheless demystified taijutsu for him.
Gai smiled at the genin. "I understand that you may have a long journey, so we will do something different today. I will discuss tactics for dealing with multiple opponents, and afterward, perhaps you can help Lee with your Kage Bunshins?"
Naruto hadn't had a chance to use any jutsu's in his matches with Lee before now, so his grin was just a bit feral. Lee looked from his sensei to his sparring partner and swallowed.
OoOoO
Naruto was still smiling as he walked toward the Hokage's Tower. The lesson had been good, and he'd be thinking about what Gai said about fighting multiple opponents for a while. The tactics varied… using terrain, using your opponents themselves… but usually they involved arranging things so you only fought a few enemies at a time.
It was also fun to let Lee see him do something he was really good at. The genin's eyes practically popped out of his head when thirty Narutos charged him with a chorus of battle cries. Even Gai had seemed a little impressed. According to him, Naruto coordinated exceptionally well with his Bunshin. Naruto enjoyed the praise, but tried not to let it go to his head. Kurenai-sensei would be sure to notice and bring it to his attention before she deflated his ego.
Gai let him leave at eight, so he'd have plenty of time to meet with his team. Naruto reached into his pocket and hefted his frog-shaped wallet. He'd even have time for a quick breakfast, and there was still plenty of money left from running all those D-rank missions. Kurenai-sensei had been right about how the money would accumulate if they kept doing those twice a day. He was nearing his destination, his mind weighing the pros and cons of having miso soup versus grilled sardines with his rice, when he saw a familiar figure.
"Ohayo, Hinata-san," he called out, breaking into a trot. But the words of his greeting seemed to stick in his throat as he realized something was wrong.
Hyuuga Hinata, though she wasn't very dynamic in her body language, always moved with a certain grace and precision. Naruto was impressed by the way that carried over to her taijutsu, as she seemed to float when they sparred, evading his attacks with an effortless ease that he both admired and envied. Of course, the last time he tried to explain that to his teammate when he complimented her, she looked down and promised to put more effort into her sparring. Naruto didn't know if it was her ears or his mouth, but somehow every time he tried to say something nice to her, it always came out negatively.
But none of that grace and ease was evident today. His teammate stumbled along the sidewalk in a daze. Her jacket was creased like she'd slept in it, and her backpack hung off one shoulder with the ties half-undone. At the sound of Naruto's voice, she flinched and the strap slipped off her shoulder. She caught it before it slid down too far, but the top of her bag opened, spilling out a haphazard tangle of clothes, weapons, and supplies on the sidewalk.
Without even looking back, Hinata slumped to the ground, kneeling on the hard pavement as she mechanically began stuffing things back into her bag. Naruto rushed over, wondering what was wrong with his teammate.
Hinata's face was lowered, and he could barely see her nose as her lank hair hung forward across her forehead. "Hinata?" he asked cautiously.
She shook her head, but did not answer. Naruto knelt down and handed her a kunai that had skidded out of her reach. He noticed that her hands were shaking as she grasped the handle with murmured thanks.
Uzumaki Naruto would never be mistaken for a genius of perceptive talent, but even he could tell that something was wrong, drastically wrong with his teammate. He remembered old man Ichiraku's words. It was true that Hinata and Shino were becoming friends as well as teammates. But now, that once-happy thought filled him with dread. Had she somehow found out about his prisoner? No, her manner seemed more painful and despairing than fearful. She hadn't been afraid to accept the kunai from his hand, either. Naruto frowned as his thoughts chased each other around, with no clear resolution in sight. Something was wrong with his friend, and he needed to do something.
Naruto knelt down a little lower, trying to make contact with Hinata's palest lavender eyes. "Hinata-chan?" he asked nervously, and immediately swallowed.
Hinata's head jerked up like she'd been struck, and Naruto saw that she indeed had been. There was a large angry bruise on her left cheek, and another along the right side of her jaw. There were smudges of dirt here and there and dried blood near one nostril and at the corner of her mouth. The skin around Hinata's eyes was dark from fatigue, and at this range he could see tiny red blood vessels along the edges of the eyes themselves. Naruto felt his mouth drop open and Hinata immediately ducked her head back down. At least she hadn't hit him for using the familiar form of address, like Sakura used to… not that he wouldn't prefer that reaction to this, when he thought about it.
Naruto helped her gather the last of her possessions, gradually becoming aware of the increasing foot traffic around them. The merchants and shopkeepers were getting ready to start another day in Konoha, as he racked his brain for something to say. "What happened to your face?" or "Why do you look like you got beat up?" did not seem appropriate, not when he thought about that anguished look.
Hinata stuffed everything back into her bag, and painstakingly re-did the ties, even though her fingers still shook a little. Naruto fidgeted uncomfortably while she did this, looked around, and stuck his hands into his pockets. Touching his frog-purse reminded him of his earlier debate. "Neh, Hinata? Have you had breakfast yet?" he asked cautiously.
She shook her head, but did not speak.
"Come on then," he said, in what he hoped was an encouraging tone of voice, "Ichiraku's is on the way to the Hokage's Tower, and we still have plenty of time."
Hinata's shoulders slumped, but she began trudging forward. Seeing her like this made Naruto feel anxious, almost sick in a way. Not the 'expired-milk' kind of sick, but… unsettled. "Tell you what," he said suddenly, trying to sound cheerful, "since I made you spill out your bag, I'll buy you breakfast!"
"Naruto, you don't have to do that," she said, her voice little more than a tired whisper.
There was a dead, defeated undertone to her words that Naruto had never heard from his teammate before. He didn't know why, but he found that even more alarming. "After all those times you fed me dinner?" he scoffed, trying to maintain a jocular tone, "I think I owe you more than a few breakfasts!" Seeing no reaction to his words, he leaned toward her and dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. He didn't want anyone to overhear his next words. "Actually, it's not fair even then. Overall, I think you cook better than Old Man Ichiraku does… but don't tell him I said that!" he hissed dramatically.
Hinata stumbled a little when he said that, and Naruto automatically reached out to steady her elbow. His fingers barely brushed her upper arm, but she flinched away like he'd struck her. He saw her lips press together as she tried to bite back a hiss of pain. "Hinata, are you okay?" he asked before he could stop himself.
She nodded, and then spoke when her breathing returned to normal. "I had… training last night," she said. "It was very strenuous."
"Ano," Naruto said, "didn't Kurenai-sensei say to take it easy and get to bed early last night?"
Hinata nodded. "This was a special family training session. Father had something he wanted me to learn before I left."
"Really?" Naruto asked eagerly. "Is it a new technique, or a special jutsu? Can you show me next time we practice?" He figured anything that tough to learn had to be pretty spectacular.
But Hinata just ducked her head down until she was almost completely facing the ground.
Naruto really had no idea what to say that couldn't make things worse, so he was silent until they reached Ichiraku's. The old man was polishing the counter top with a folded cloth as a fat merchant in a silk robe got up and left, leaving some coins next to his empty plate. "Hey, Naruto! One more for the road until you're off on your mission?" he asked. But his smile faded a little when he saw Naruto's companion.
They both settled on stools, though Hinata was still moving stiffly. Naruto glanced at his teammate out of the corner of his eye. "Do you know what you want?" he asked, gesturing at the menu. When Hinata didn't answer, Naruto frowned, scratching at the back of his head. Where was Kurenai-sensei when he needed someone smart to unravel the mysteries of kunoichi? "Would you like to just get what I'm having then?" he asked cautiously.
Hinata nodded wearily, seeming to droop on the stool.
"Okay, I'd like miso soup, rice balls, and pickles for both of us," he said, digging out his wallet and checking its contents. "And some of those dumplings with the bean paste for my friend," he added. He knew from the dinners that was one of her favorite treats.
"A-arigatou, Naruto-san," Hinata said in an uneven voice.
"Good morning, Naruto!" Ayame said as she emerged from the back room with a broom. She frowned a little when she saw Hinata, but Naruto had no idea why she then looked over at her father for a moment. "Hello, Hinata-san," she said after a moment. "I… er, we're planning to get some new tiles laid in back, and I was hoping I could get your opinion on the patterns. Father has his heart set on this one design, but I think it would clash horribly. I'd like to get another woman's opinion on this, since we all know men are hopeless at such things."
The old man, of course, took loud exception to this, and father and daughter began a spate of good-natured bickering that sounded like a well-rehearsed skit to Naruto's ears. Somehow, halfway through it, Ayame was on the other side of the counter, gently taking Hinata by the shoulder, and leading the weakly protesting girl away.
"I'll watch your bag," Naruto volunteered, helping her ease the strap off her shoulder.
Minus the weight, Hinata seemed to straighten up a bit more. Naruto knew she must have been very tired for it to have affected her so much – her arm and leg weights had been added to several times after Kurenai had procured a set of braces that would fit the slim girl's wrists and ankles.
Naruto fidgeted as the old man prepared their food. It wasn't that he didn't believe Hinata so much as that he suspected she wasn't telling him everything. He needed to see 'underneath the underneath' but he didn't have any idea what he should be looking for in this situation. He frowned as he tried to think, but nothing seemed to make sense to him.
"What happened to your friend?" the old man asked in a low voice as he began to lay out the porcelain squares with their food.
"I wish I knew," Naruto said in a miserable voice. He was getting really sick of being confused and always doing the wrong thing.
"Well, I think Ayame is helping her get cleaned up a bit. One thing I have learned being married and raising a daughter: A woman having a rough day will feel twice as bad if she looks rough as well," the old man confided.
"Arigatou," Naruto said gratefully. Ayame was a girl, so maybe Hinata's problem, whatever it was, would make sense to her.
"Think nothing of it," the old man said in grand voice. "A good chef knows to take care of his regular customers! Besides," he added, "you kids are good people. If I could make a living just cooking for shinobi, I'd ban those cheap, whiny, self-satisfied merchants from here in a minute. Just don't tell them I said that, at least until I retire."
The old man's rant brought a smile to Naruto's lips, and he began to relax a little and had a sip of his tea.
A few minutes later, Ayame's voice came echoing from the back of the ramen stand. "I think you are right about the patterns, Hinata-san! If we use that design, but reverse the colors, it won't look so bad, and it won't overpower everything else."
When she led the girl back around to the front, even Naruto could see the changes. Hinata's hair was a little damp, and had been recently brushed. Her face was clean, and the bruises seemed much fainter than they had earlier. While she still had dark circles around them, her eyes didn't seem to be as red, either. When she sat down, she still wouldn't meet Naruto's eyes, but she didn't seem as beaten down as before.
Her eyes darted toward Naruto's chopsticks, poised above his untouched food, and she ducked her head in apology. "Gomen, Naruto, I did not mean to make you wait to eat."
Naruto snorted. "Kurenai-sensei has been trying to teach me manners. It's hard enough to remember the complicated things, so I might as well do the simple ones right, eh?" He smiled at his teammate, but she did not look up. "Well, now that you're here. Itadakimasu!"
With that, they started breakfast. Naruto noticed that Hinata, for once, was eating almost as quickly as he was. He wondered if that 'special training' had made her miss supper, as well as breakfast. He also wondered if he should ask Kurenai-sensei about this 'special family training', especially if they were going to make Hinata do it right before a potentially dangerous mission. The formerly-dormant part of his brain that he'd discovered during their team's first mission planning exercise decided that Hinata was probably at less than fifty percent of her normal effectiveness. If they ran into problems, he'd have to make sure he was backing her up immediately. As tired and sore as she was, he doubted she'd be able to defend herself for long in a real fight.
Fortunately, the food seemed to restore her a bit as well, and she was able to shoulder her bag without straining as they prepared to leave. Naruto left the money on the counter, along with a large tip for Ayame. The old man's eyes darted toward Hinata as she adjusted the straps on her bag. "You two come back safe," he said gruffly.
"We will," Naruto assured him.
OoOoO
Kurenai was pleased to see her genins already waiting for her as she approached the Hokage's Tower for their assignment. The horror stories she'd heard from Asuma and the others about irresponsible students seemed to be just that – stories. She smirked. Or maybe they took after their jonins, at least in Asuma's case. Team ten had done less than a third as many missions as team eight, and Kurenai had yet to see them do any really serious training. Asuma-baka was relying far too much on the Akimichi-Yamanaka-Nara synergy and not enough on hard work and preparation.
Kurenai's musing cut off as she approached the bench. Shino was standing next to it, staring at her. Naruto was sitting, as was Hinata. Or more accurately, Naruto was sitting there, petrified. Hinata was asleep, her head resting on her teammate's shoulder.
While one part of her found the scene to be rather cute, and wished she'd had a camera to record the moment, for the most part she was concerned. This was not normal behavior for the kunoichi, who always took care to ensure she was prepared for the day's activities. Had she and Naruto ignored her orders about getting a full night's sleep and decided to train anyway? Was she sick? If the latter was true, they'd have to delay their mission or leave her in Konoha. Either outcome would not be good for the girl.
For that matter, Naruto looked unusually nervous as well. Did he know something? Or was he partially to blame for her condition? Kurenai pondered things she'd been hoping to put off for a while when she noticed a far simpler and more likely cause. Of the people walking past the bench, shinobi and villagers alike, a fair proportion were giving the boy a dirty look, like he'd done something wrong. That probably accounted for his guilty expression – or at least she hoped it did.
Kurenai came to stand before her students. It took no more than a raised eyebrow to get Naruto talking in a strained whisper. She noted that, despite his agitation, he took great pains not to move his shoulder a millimeter as he talked.
"I ran into Hinata after I left Gai-sensei and Lee. She was really tired and could barely walk. When I said hello she dropped her bag and I had to help pick her stuff up. She'd said she had to do some special training with her family. I think they kept her up all night. We had some time, so I bought her breakfast at Ichiraku's. From the way she ate I don't think she'd had anything to eat since lunch yesterday. When we got here, we were still a little early, so we sat down to wait, and next thing I know she's asleep on my shoulder, and honest, I didn't do anything!" the blond genin whispered, without pausing for breath.
Kurenai held up her palm to forestall any further explanations. Naruto might pass out from oxygen deprivation if he continued. "You did the right thing, Naruto," she reassured him.
"This 'family training' is quite troubling," Shino said.
Kurenai wondered if he really meant 'troublesome' instead, since it could interfere with their mission. But then she looked at the expressionless boy and remembered how seldom he misspoke himself. It was good to see he wasn't as cold and uncaring on the inside as he appeared on the outside. "I agree," she replied, nodding. "I hope she isn't coming down with something," she said as she carefully rested the back of her hand against the girl's forehead.
The skin was cool at first, but at the slight touch Hinata's eyes popped open and she made a small, indistinct noise as she stiffened. A moment later her forehead threatened to scorch the back of Kurenai's hand as her face was enveloped in a rosy blush. "G-gomen!" the girl squeaked as she almost leaped away from Naruto and stood at attention.
Kurenai smiled down at the girl, even as she seethed inside. Special Family Training, was it? Hiashi should have been proud of what his daughter had accomplished yesterday. Was he so personally invested in her being a failure that he'd punish her for attempting to grow beyond it? Even with all she knew of the man, it seemed impossible. Well, monstrous people did monstrous things, and she already knew of one, even if she lacked the proof. But Hinata was not her father. Revenge against one did not justify injustice toward the other. Perhaps, even, the opposite was true, and one would require the other? That would remain to be seen, as it depended on another's strength… and right now she appeared to be a very slender reed indeed.
Nonetheless, Kurenai smiled down at her subordinate. "Hinata, I am glad you still made it here, even if you are not feeling well. Your determination not to miss this mission briefing is noted and appreciated. I see that it is five minutes before the hour, are you ready to proceed?"
Hinata nodded, ducking her head. Naruto just looked confused, and Kurenai hoped he didn't interpret Hinata leaping away from him as a rejection. She squeezed the bridge of her nose as Hinata and Naruto moved toward their appointment. When she looked up, she saw Shino, and had the oddest impression that he was smiling at her behind his high collar.
OoOoO
Hinata looked down and concentrated on placing her feet correctly. She would not stumble and humiliate herself further. Fortunately, the meal and the brief rest had temporarily restored some of her energy, and she moved with much greater ease.
Thinking about that 'brief rest' brought heat rushing back to her cheeks. She didn't know what had possessed her to do that. They'd arrived at the tower with fifteen minutes to spare, so Naruto suggested they sit on one of the benches. The morning sunlight was warm, and combined with her fatigue and the fine breakfast she'd just eaten, she hadn't stood a prayer of staying awake. But why did she have to wake up leaning on Naruto? Of course, if she'd leaned the other way she might have toppled over, or even fallen off the bench, but that might have been preferable. At least he hadn't complained or shoved her off of him. Naruto was too nice to do that anyway.
For that matter, why was everyone being so nice to her? First Naruto, stopping to help her with her things, and even calling her 'Hinata-chan' at one point, though she thought her ears were probably deceiving her, telling her what she wanted to hear. Instead of losing patience with her bumbling, he'd even offered to buy her breakfast! That was almost like a date, in a way, since he even paid for her food. It wasn't really like that – he'd just offered to pay her back for the dinners she'd shared with him – but if it had been Uchiha Sasuke who'd bought her breakfast, Hinata knew that most of the village girls her age would have been wishing for her violent death. So even if it wasn't a real date, it had to count for something, didn't it?
And then Ayame-onee-san, on the pretext of asking her about the tiles, had taken her into Ichiraku's small back area and bathroom and helped her get cleaned up. To her horror, the first thing the older girl had asked her was if Naruto had put the bruises on her face. The angry look on the young woman's face nearly reduced her to tears, and she knew she was babbling a little as she assured her that Naruto had done no such thing. She didn't want Naruto to be blamed for her condition, not by some of the only adults in Konoha that didn't seem to hate him for no reason. Even when they sparred, she could tell Naruto was fairly careful not to hurt her. Father and Neji did not choose to coddle her that way.
Once Ayame reassured her that she believed the kunoichi, she helped her get cleaned up, and even showed her how to minimize the bruises with a light dusting of makeup. Hinata had never worn cosmetics like that before, and was amazed at the difference when she looked in the mirror. As they finished, Ayame ran her comb under the tap and used it to smooth out her hair. Hinata was too tired to continue protesting the kind girl's ministrations. Having someone else tend to her hair was unexpectedly soothing, something that brought back happier memories of her mother. So she was a little off guard when Ayame asked her that question.
"You like him, don't you?" she asked.
Hinata's eyes flew open with an audible snap. "G-gomen?" she stammered.
"Naruto. You like him, don't you?" Ayame asked with a smile.
"A-ano…" Hinata temporized, her embarrassment warring with the relaxing feel of the comb in her hair.
"Father told me about the way you told off that Sakura girl who insulted him," Ayame continued. "He's a good kid, and it's nice to see someone his age who will stand up for him. He deserves better than he gets, doesn't he?"
"Hai!" Hinata agreed, but when she tried to elaborate, her tongue refused to move as she felt her cheeks heat up again.
"All done," Ayame said. "Doesn't that look better?" she asked, gesturing toward the small mirror.
"Arigatou," Hinata said, nodding.
"You're welcome. Just back me up when I speak to my father," Ayame answered with a smile. "That man has no taste whatsoever."
As they made their way back toward the front area, Ayame added quietly. "You know, Naruto's always been a little low on money. You and his old teacher, Iruka, are the only people I've ever seen him buy a meal for…"
Of course that made it even harder for her to eat, despite her hunger. Naruto shouldn't be spending his money on her! But when she arrived the meal was already prepared and her protests died on her lips when she saw him smiling.
And then Ayame's father had wished them both a safe return, and she could see his sincerity, beyond his concern about losing a regular customer… and it extended to her, as well.
Why was everyone being so nice to the Hyuuga reject? Her own father couldn't stand her constant failures, so why were complete strangers being so kind? Was it pity? Were her shortcomings so obvious that people who didn't know her would feel sorry for her?
Hinata felt her stomach turn over in disgust and self-loathing as they climbed the stairs. No more. Her brows knitted as an unaccustomed expression drew over her features. She was tired of being a failure, and she would do whatever it took to change. It was her weakness that Father hated, that Father punished, so she would cut it out of her if she needed to.
But her rebellious eyes glanced over at Naruto, and Hinata wondered if she would really be able to do it.  

[Pandora Green]

Chapter 6
Naruto kept an eye on Hinata as they ascended the Hokage's Tower. She seemed a lot steadier than before, which was good, but he didn't want to take any chances either.
He also studiously avoided making any sort of eye contact with Shino. He was pretty sure the damn bug-user had been silently laughing at him since he'd arrived at the base of the tower that morning. He'd looked down at Naruto and the sleeping Hinata without saying a single word. Finally Naruto had whispered "She's really tired," as quietly as he could.
"I can see," Shino replied, deadpan.
Unfortunately, with that high collar, Naruto couldn't see the boy's mouth to be sure. Nonetheless, he silently promised himself to kick the larger boy's butt the next time they sparred.
And to top off the day's weirdness, his shoulder still felt warm where her head had rested on it.
At least the chuunin guarding the Hokage's office had retained their attitude adjustment from the previous day – though Naruto wondered if that would necessarily have been true if Kurenai-sensei hadn't been bringing up the rear.
At least he knew the Hokage's smile wasn't feigned when they entered his office. "Hmmm," he murmured as they stood at attention before his desk. He held out a pair of scrolls for Kurenai. "The scroll with the blue seal contains the details of your assignment. You will be patrolling that section of the border with Earth Country for three weeks, starting three days from now. That should allow you plenty of time to travel and familiarize yourself with the area. The scroll with the red seal is to be presented to the leader of the team currently in place, a jonin named Dariketsu."
"We're relieving Dariketsu's team?" Kurenai asked, her voice holding a little edge.
"Yes," the Hokage answered, gesturing at the jonin with his pipe. "Do you know him?"
Kurenai nodded. "In passing. I am… surprised… he was put in charge of such a sensitive location."
The old man grunted, and a rueful expression passed over his face, disappearing so quickly Naruto wondered if he'd imagined it. "There have been a few incidents lately. Skirmishes that seemed to straddle the line between our two countries. It's never really clear which side of the border it started on, so there have been messy diplomatic repercussions. There are a lot of people over there that are still angry about a war fought before your genins were born. To give our envoy to Earth something to use, he can now inform them that Dariketsu's team of combat veterans has been replaced with a genin team, and request that they reciprocate. I'm explaining this because I want all of you to adopt a very… flexible approach to border intrusions."
"You want us to just let anyone through?" Naruto asked in disbelief.
"No," the Hokage said firmly as he shook his head. "But I do want you to make sure that if you intercept someone, it happens in a location that makes it very clear who violated who's border."
Naruto frowned as he puzzled out his leader's words. "So you want us to make sure the other side gets the blame if there's a fight?"
The Hokage nodded. "Yes, although I hope there won't be any confrontations, especially if Earth stands down their patrol as well."
Kurenai spoke up again. "We will make sure we always patrol a few kilometers back from the actual border, so any confrontations will occur on Fire territory."
The Hokage nodded. "Very well. Good luck and I will see you in about three and a half weeks. Your relief will have a scroll with a red seal like that one. Do not accept messages from anyone who does not have such a scroll. Understood?"
They all nodded, and with that they left the Hokage's office. Starting his first C-ranked mission, Naruto wanted to jump into the air and shout "Yatta!", but two things stopped him. The first was Kurenai's lectures to her team about proper decorum. Hinata already seemed familiar with all the rules, and while Shino appeared mildly interested, Naruto figured they were aimed primarily at him. The other was Hinata's condition, the reasons for which he did not fully understand.
Team Eight moved through the streets of Konoha at a quick walk, heading for the nearest gate. Stepping through the portal wasn't anything they hadn't already done dozens of times, but somehow it felt different. He nervously adjusted the kunai holster on his right leg, and resisted the urge to pull one out and twirl it by the ring at the end of the handle.
They were on the trade road that led to Earth Country for over two hours before Kurenai called for a break. Naruto was still full of energy, but he noticed Hinata was faltering. Her apparent lack of rest the previous night was catching up with her. She slipped her bag off her shoulders, sat down at the base of a tree, and leaned back, closing her eyes.
Naruto frowned and sat down next to his teammate. "You may want to take your arm and leg weights off, if you're still wearing them," he said quietly.
Hinata started at the sound of his voice, eyes popping open again. After a moment she self-consciously grasped her forearm through the sleeve of her jacket. "A-ano, that is all right, Naruto."
Naruto frowned. "But if you are tired, it might help," he said reasonably.
Hinata smiled. "But then I will just have more weight to carry in my bag."
Naruto shrugged. "We can stick them in my pack. I didn't stay up all night, and I missed having you Jyuuken the crap out of me last night."
Hinata smiled wearily, and Naruto thought he heard a small snort of laughter. Her hand tightened around her sleeve again. "Seriously, Naruto, I will be all right. I won't improve if I don't keep the weights on, will I?"
"Well," Naruto said slowly, "it depends. Gai-sensei said that if you overuse the muscles in your arms and legs, you sometimes have to leave the weights off until you recover." Of course, the stabbing pains and muscle tears the man described to Naruto never seemed to last longer than a few minutes. But then again, he probably hadn't ever really hurt himself that way.
Hinata looked thoughtful. "I am a bit sore, but not in that way. I should probably keep them on," she said firmly. Then she looked down at the ground between her legs. "I appreciate your concern," she added politely.
Naruto found himself scratching at the back of his head again. "Er, yeah. Well, you're my teammate after all," he said. For some reason her shoulders slumped after he said that. "And you're really fun to spar with," he added. Hinata nodded without looking up and Naruto decided to go see Kurenai-sensei before he said something stupid again.
OoOoO
Kurenai did not want to make Hinata any more self-conscious than necessary, so she was subtle in her attempts to keep an eye on the girl. She took note of the Hyuuga's condition using her peripheral vision, and always when something else seemed to draw her attention. Naruto and Shino's concern for their teammate was more obvious, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Kurenai hoped that the boys' concern would make an impression on the girl. Naruto was as obvious as he was sincere, a felicitous combination in this situation.
After a couple of hours on the trade road, Kurenai called for a quick break. Hinata's fatigue was becoming more and more apparent with every step, and it didn't surprise her that Hinata, after a brief conversation with Naruto, had fallen asleep leaning against a tree.
Naruto walked toward Kurenai as she fished her canteen out of her pack and took a small swallow. He had an uncharacteristically grim look on his face, displacing his normal smile. "She's exhausted," he said quietly. "I don't think her father should have insisted on her training all night."
Kurenai bit back the first couple of things she wanted to say, and settled for just nodding her agreement.
The blond genin opened his mouth like he had more to say, but after a moment he just closed it, shaking his head as he walked off toward Shino. He deliberately scuffed his feet on the ground, kicking any loose pebbles or twigs in his path, and Kurenai didn't need any special jutsu to read his frustration.
Ten minutes later, after they'd all had a drink and refreshed themselves, they were ready to resume their journey, but the girl was still sound asleep.
Kurenai was contemplating how best to wake her charge when Naruto and Shino walked up to their teammate in a fairly matter-of-fact manner. Naruto picked up Hinata's bag and handed it to Shino, who in turn locked the straps with his own pack.
Naruto turned back to his teammate and visibly swallowed. Then he quickly bent over and wrapped one arm around Hinata's legs, loosely grasping her shoulder with his other hand. He carefully straightened up and Hinata was neatly folded over his shoulder, still sleeping.
Kurenai recognized the Academy-taught method for carrying a wounded comrade who was stable enough to travel, but unable to walk on their own. What amazed the jonin was the fact that the girl slept through the entire process. That could only indicate acute fatigue, combined with almost total chakra depletion. It was surprising she made it as far as she did, Kurenai decided.
Naruto turned toward his sensei and slowly nodded. "I'm ready," he said quietly.
Kurenai frowned. Naruto was holding himself a little stiffly, and she remembered that he was wearing weights on his arms and legs as well. "Are you sure about this, Naruto?"
The boy nodded carefully. "It'll be good training, I think."
Kurenai wondered if he'd been spending too much time with Gai and Lee.
OoOoO
Hinata awoke feeling painfully stiff.
She blinked up at the ceiling wondering how she'd arrived. The last thing she remembered was taking a short break on the side of the road, but now she appeared to be in a room of some sort.
Attempting to sit up was a mistake, she immediately realized, as her abused muscles punished her mercilessly. Her body felt stiff as a board, but far more tender. She stifled a low moan.
"Ah, you are awake," a voice said in the darkened room.
Hinata's fingers slowly formed the seals under the coverlet as she whispered "Byakugan." She released her blood limit as soon as she sensed Kurenai-sensei was the only other person in the room.
"None of that!" Kurenai said sharply, making Hinata twitch painfully. "Your reserves are still very low," she continued in a kindlier tone. "Kindly restrict your chakra usage until you have fully recovered."
"G-gomen," Hinata stammered, her face flushing.
"Now, regarding this 'special family training' of yours…" Kurenai began, letting her voice trail off. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me?" she finally asked.
"No, Sensei," Hinata replied quietly.
"Hinata, I put you to bed," her teacher said in a chiding tone, "I saw. You were covered with bruises and abrasions. Your chakra was so low, I was amazed you could even move, let alone walk for two hours! What kind of training leaves you incapacitated?"
Hinata opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it. "I am not permitted to discuss certain things with people outside my family," she finally said.
Kurenai sighed. "Be that as it may, you are still a ninja on active duty with the Leaf. As such, you are required to keep yourself in good health and that does not include letting yourself become disabled when you know you have a mission the next day."
"Gomen, Sensei, I told…" Hinata began, but then swallowed her next words. It was shameful to spout excuses for her failures and shortcomings.
"You told your father, didn't you?" Kurenai asked in a shrewd tone. "Remember, Hinata, I was there when you left for the academy. Your father makes no secret of his contempt for the other shinobi of the village."
Hinata's only response was a choked sound.
"Do not apologize for matters over which you have no control, Hinata," Kurenai continued in a kindlier voice. Then her voice changed, becoming more formal in tone. "But I will require you to refuse any training or exercises that could compromise your ability to participate in our missions. As your jonin, I have the authority to do that. Your responsibility is to convey that directive to your father if the situation ever arises again."
Hinata inhaled sharply at the thought of how such a conversation would go.
As if reading her thoughts, Kurenai sighed. "I know that will not be easy for you, but if something like this happens again, either you or your father will have to answer for it. If, after explaining my orders, you are still… forced… then it will not be your fault. Do you understand?"
Hinata nodded slowly, ignoring the ache. But the thought of refusing her father filled her with dread.
"Good…. And Hinata, if you ever need to… well, my door is open if you need to talk after we return to Konoha. This inn will be serving dinner soon if you are hungry. Your uniform is next to you on the floor. I'm going to go look in on Naruto and Shino." The door slid aside, and then back, and Hinata knew she was alone.
OoOoO
Shino was limping slightly as he followed his teammate back to the inn. They were only a day's travel from the border with Earth, so their jonin decided to spend the extra day at a road-side inn that typically served merchants traveling between Fire Country and Earth Country.
Of course, sitting still for a day did not appeal to Naruto. Immediately after breakfast he began urging them to train. Kurenai wanted to keep an eye on the still-sleeping Hinata, so Shino followed Naruto out into the woods to spar.
Naruto had evidently needed to work out some of his agitation and frustration regarding their teammate, because Shino couldn't recall ever getting the excrement kicked out of him this badly since he'd started at the Konoha Ninja Academy.
Fortunately, the blond genin remembered to pull his punches, so Shino only had some mild contusions to add to his puzzled embarrassment. The boy's speed had increased to a remarkable degree, and the power behind his blocks and counters threatened to knock the larger boy out of his stances every time they clashed.
This isn't to say that the bug-user hadn't gotten in a few shots of his own, one of which he'd inadvertently landed at full force when Naruto tried to duck under it and go for a sweep. The result was a small mouse under the blonde's left eye, and a throbbing wrist that bothered Shino more and more as the adrenalin wore off. The blow barely fazed his opponent, who merely came to his feet after a backwards roll and nodded acknowledgment of the point.
The changes wrought in Naruto's fighting style by his supplemental training were all too apparent to Shino. Gone were the awkward, exaggerated versions of the basic taijutsu stances. Naruto's footing was now sure and his movements exceptionally fluid. His attacks and counters were less straight-forward and more circular in motion.
Naruto still favored attacking from unusual directions, but his dependence on the terrain had lessened. He didn't hesitate to launch himself into the air for a flying kick, confident that his speed would allow him to complete the move without being caught in the air. Indeed, the one time Shino managed to catch one of Naruto's high kicks, the genin simply twisted in mid-air and used a scissoring motion to bring his other heel crashing into the side of the Kikai-nin's head.
The worst part was that Naruto had done all this with nearly half of Shino's colony attached to his back, steadily draining chakra until they let go, replete. That was something he'd rarely seen an individual Kikai bug do, let alone dozens of them at once. The amount of chakra they'd drained from the boy was amazing. The worst part of all was that Naruto didn't even seem to have noticed.
Shino frowned at Naruto's back as he followed the boy back to the inn. Chakra reserves that large were rare in a jonin, let alone a genin. Could it be linked to the mystery surrounding Naruto that his father was forbidden to discuss? His mind worked furiously as Naruto, still energized from the sparring, babbled happily about a dozen topics at once. The only thing that came to mind was his father's words about relying on first-hand observations. Listening to his teammate wonder if Hinata was awake yet and if he could talk the cook into serving ramen, Shino decided to do just that.
For now.
OoOoO
Naruto bounced in his seat as he waited for their food to arrive. Sparring with Shino had really woken up his appetite, especially since he'd actually held his own against his taller teammate.
He was also happy to discover that the inn's proprietors, a middle-aged couple who apparently rarely visited Konoha, didn't seem to be aware of his prisoner and treated him so nicely it was a little disconcerting. The wife, who ran the kitchen, kept patting him on the head and saying how he reminded her of her son. She was quite a good cook, and boasted experience in many regional cuisines, so she seemed a little disconcerted when her favorite guest asked for ramen. Normally, she said, such a dish was a bit beneath her talents, but she couldn't seem to say no when Naruto smiled and bowed apologetically with his palms together.
Naruto was working on his second bowl, trying to puzzle out the unusual spices the nice old lady had mixed into the broth, when a voice coming from behind him almost made him fall to the floor.
"Ramen again?" Kurenai asked in a disapproving tone.
"Er, yeah," Naruto said, ducking his head as he turned toward his sensei. "I'm going without for three weeks as it is," he continued in a slightly petulant tone.
Kurenai sighed. "Three weeks of trail rations and whatever we can gather on our own. All the more reason to eat nutritious food when you have the opportunity, Naruto. Not just bowl after bowl of noodles."
"I do not think there is any danger of Naruto becoming malnourished at this inn," Shino observed. "Not after the breakfast he was served."
Naruto turned back and glared across the table at his teammate. "You're just mad because Obasan almost swatted one of your bugs when she saw it on your shoulder."
"The reckless slaughter of innocent and productive creatures is not something to take lightly," Shino insisted in a frosty tone. "She might have been more careful in her judgment if she had not been distracted attempting to sate your appetite."
Naruto stuck his lower lip out and scowled at his teammate. "I didn't ask her to do that! It's just, every time she came out of the kitchen and she saw my plate was empty, she put more food on it." He shrugged. "Maybe she had a lot of food that was about to go bad or something."
Shino didn't respond to that, but Naruto did hear the muted buzzing that sometimes occurred when his teammate was displeased about something. Naruto figured it was his bugs reacting, but he really didn't want to think too much about that.
Kurenai sat down next to Shino, and soon the cook was taking her dinner order as well. With a warm smile at Naruto, the older woman bustled back to her kitchen to prepare the jonin's food. It had been a long time since Naruto had actively wondered what it would be like to have a mother. Normally, he was too busy for such thoughts, which was at least partially intentional.
But now, waiting for Hinata to recover so they could resume their journey, Naruto had an unusually large amount of time on his hands. He found himself thinking more and more about the innkeepers' reactions. What would it be like to live in a village where everyone treated him like that? Konoha was his home, but what would it be like to not have people glaring at him all the time, praying for his death, or telling their children to stay away from that Uzumaki brat.
Those thoughts made him very uncomfortable, and he tried to suppress them without much success. Then he followed Kurenai's advice from several weeks ago, and tried to logically examine his options. If he tried to move to another village, his new neighbors would want to know why. If they ever found out he had a demon bound within his stomach, Naruto knew his welcome would expire soon afterwards. Even if he came up with a believable story, he'd still need to be able to make a living. He knew a little about being a ninja, but not much else. He couldn't join another Hidden Village as a shinobi for several reasons. One, he'd be hunted down as a missing-nin by the Konoha ANBU squads. Two, his new employers would probably be able to detect that stupid damn fox and he'd be back at square one with everyone fearing and hating him. Three, eventually he'd be sent on a mission where he'd have to fight one of his former classmates. While he wouldn't mind kicking Sasuke's butt, having to fight Shino, Lee, or Hinata for real was not something he could even consider without going into a cold sweat.
No, he was stuck with Konoha in much the same way Konoha was stuck with him. A small, perverse corner of his mind was pleased by that. It would make becoming the Hokage even sweeter. With a smile, he re-addressed himself to the oddly-seasoned ramen. But after a couple of bites, he noticed that everyone else was staring at something immediately to his left. He quickly swallowed and turned his head as well.
Hinata, a little pale and unsteady, was easing herself onto the bench next to him.
Naruto almost reached out to steady her, but something made him hesitate. Remembering her insistence that she could carry her own bag and wear her weights despite her exhaustion, he realized that trying to help her might make her feel even more self-conscious. So he refrained, and wondered if he was actually getting smarter about such things. Or was his sudden intuition merely dumb luck?
"Gomen," Hinata said quietly. "You were right, Naruto," she continued in a subdued voice, "about the weights, and everything."
Naruto just shrugged at his teammate, wondering if something else was wrong. "I'm just glad you're feeling better," he said. "I missed you." Naruto coughed suddenly as Hinata's eyes widened. "I mean, I missed sparring with you. Last night. You know. Like we always do," he added quickly.
Hinata just nodded her agreement, looking downward the entire time.
OoOoO
The next day, they were back on the road again, bright and early. Naruto was still a little groggy and yawned frequently for the first hour. The pallets they'd slept on were far softer than he was used to, so he had trouble sleeping at night.
Surprisingly, the innkeeper's wife got up early as well, to send them on their way with a good breakfast. Catching Kurenai's look, Naruto made sure to thank her and let her know how much he appreciated her efforts. The way the older lady just beamed at him made him feel very strange, and he found himself blushing as they left. After they left the inn, Kurenai-sensei walked beside him for a while, and thanked him for not taking advantage of the cook's friendliness.
Naruto frowned at his sensei. "Why would I do that?" he asked.
Kurenai smiled thinly. "Why indeed. She doesn't act like most of the other villagers you've known. I talked to her briefly the day before. Her son, a boy you bear a passing resemblance to, went to Konoha several years ago to attend the Ninja Academy."
"Really?" Naruto asked. "What rank is he now? Have we met him?"
"He died during his chuunin exam," Kurenai answered in a somber tone.
Naruto tripped over his own feet. "Oh," he said as he stumbled for a moment.
"I will admit," Kurenai continued, "that I was slightly concerned that you might… inadvertently… take advantage of the situation. But aside from asking her to make ramen for you," she continued, making him duck his head a little, "your behavior was entirely appropriate."
"I didn't think it was that big a deal," Naruto grumbled. "She did ask me what my favorite food was."
Kurenai nodded at that. "As I said, I am glad you did not take advantage of the situation."
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Ano… Sensei, if I do that when people are nice to me, won't that encourage them to treat me like everyone else does?"
Kurenai nodded. "Very good, Naruto. You are thinking ahead and considering the consequences of your actions."
Naruto found his face reddening again. Kurenai nodded at him, and then turned to speak with Shino. Naruto took that as his cue to speed up a little so he was walking beside Hinata.
A good dinner, during which the nice old lady tried to stuff the weary kunoichi with as much food as she could hold, and another full night's sleep had restored most of Hinata's energy. She was still moving a little slower than normal, but she was out on point this morning, periodically activating her blood-limit to do quick scans of the area around them.
They walked together in a silence that was actually fairly comfortable. Naruto wondered if concentrating on the woods around them, scanning for an ambush, kept his teammate too busy to get nervous. They hadn't discussed exactly how Hinata had been transported to the inn, and he wasn't about to bring up that subject any time soon.
Naruto wasn't completely sure why he'd been the one to carry the girl. Of course, if there was danger, it would be better if their jonin was unburdened. But he couldn't say for sure if that had even occurred to him at the time. What he did know was that her arm and leg weights were contributing to her fatigue, and she wouldn't even have been wearing them if he hadn't shown his off. He realized that seeing her exhausted and full of pain made him feel worse than he would if it had been himself. He wondered if this was what it was like to have friends, this feeling that you'd rather be hurt yourself than see them in pain.
In a sudden flash of insight, Naruto understood why they'd been taught that shinobi should avoid friendships and close personal relationships with their comrades. The thought of his friend being hurt, or even killed, made him feel physically ill, like he'd drunk all the bad milk in Konoha in one sitting. But why had Kurenai-sensei urged him to become friends with his teammates?
Then Naruto remembered his role in the team. He was supposed to cover their escape if they were ambushed or overrun. In that situation, he supposed it was… useful… if he cared a lot about his teammates. Naruto glanced back at his sensei. Had she pushed him to make friends so he would be more likely to sacrifice himself for them?
That was a very uncomfortable thought, and it made Naruto feel very cold inside. He'd come to value Kurenai-sensei's wisdom and all the things she'd taught him. The idea that she was doing so just to manipulate him… but she hadn't really, had she? He needed to think this through, the way she'd taught him.
Naruto recalled their first conversation at Moritake's. She'd already explained his role on Team Eight, and asked him how hard he was willing to work to achieve his long-term goals. She hadn't really concealed anything from him, and her expectations were straightforward. If she really was just trying to get rid of the Kyuubi like the other villagers wanted, she wouldn't have set up extra training for him, now would she? Naruto admitted to himself that when he first became a genin, his taijutsu had been awful. Training with Gai-sensei and Lee, he was much more likely to survive any situation they got into.
Naruto also remembered a conversation he'd had with the Hokage, many years ago, when the old man explained how the Hokage was the shinobi who protected everyone in the village, with his wisdom as well as his strength. That was the day that Naruto decided that he would become the Hokage some day. No one could ignore his existence then… Were his current duties all that much different? True, Kurenai-sensei was doing most of the thinking here, but wasn't it Naruto's job to help protect his teammates? Wasn't that just like what the Hokage did? Or at least a little bit like it? Maybe he was trying to see 'underneath the underneath' when there was no real underneath to see.
Naruto tried to think his way through this question as the sun climbed steadily in the sky. Around noon-time, Kurenai called a halt so they could eat some trail mix and drink from their canteens. Seeing as how there was no stream nearby, she also showed them a new jutsu for permanently summoning small amounts of water by collecting the humidity present in the ground and air around them.
Naruto was eager to learn any new jutsus he could, and watched Kurenai slowly form the seals with eager eyes. Hinata and Shino both performed the simple jutsu without much trouble, while Naruto frantically practiced the seals.
When it was his turn, Naruto was a little nervous, but managed to form the seals correctly as he said "Suiton: Condensation!" However, instead of a two-inch-wide spinning vortex of air appearing over the mouth of his canteen, Naruto summoned one nearly a foot across. The torrent of water that gushed down out of it not only filled his canteen, but it also knocked it over and splattered their sandals and pant-legs with mud. At the same time, the air became extremely parched, stinging his throat.
Naruto managed to grab his canteen before all the water poured out, and then smiled sheepishly at his teammates as they tried to shake the spattered mud off their legs.
Neither Shino nor Hinata said anything, but Kurenai finally broke the silence. "Should I assume that was an accident, Naruto? Or was that intentional?" she asked in a dry tone.
"I wouldn't prank-" Naruto said and cut himself off. He'd been about to say he wouldn't prank Hinata since she was just now feeling better, but she probably wouldn't appreciate hearing that. "Not during a mission, Sensei," he said in a formal tone.
"I see," Kurenai replied. "Well, I think it's safe to say that did not manifest as intended. Do you know why?"
Naruto shrugged, a little frustrated and embarrassed, but did not answer.
"A-ano," Hinata said, breaking the silence.
"Yes, Hinata?" Kurenai asked.
"Naruto… he always tries his best," the girl mumbled, looking down as a blush slowly crept up her cheeks. Naruto noticed her fingers clutching the hem of her jacket and he wondered why she was so tense. "He... probably put too much chakra into the jutsu," she finally said, lifting her head a little. "It didn't go wrong, not really. He just gathered too much water for the canteen to hold."
Naruto stared at his teammate, gratified that she wasn't rubbing it in. Really, she was just saying that he did it too well. He was still staring at her when she looked up, and her head shot back down so fast Naruto wondered if he'd just imagined it.
"That was a very astute observation, Hinata," Kurenai said approvingly. "Naruto," the jonin continued, "when using a jutsu, especially for the first time, it's a good idea to use just the minimum amount of chakra to complete it."
Naruto frowned and scratched his head, forgetting for the moment that his hand was wet and a little muddy. "How do I know how much to use?" he asked, puzzled.
Kurenai blinked. "As you complete the seals, you should feel a draining sensation as the jutsu attempts to draw the necessary chakra. Release just enough chakra for the draining sensation to stop, and no more."
"Draining sensation?" Naruto asked quizzically. "What do you mean?"
Kurenai paused for a long moment before answering. "When you use a jutsu, don't you feel a slight draining sensation as your chakra goes to fuel the technique?"
Naruto shook his head, his eyes widening.
"What does it feel like?" Kurenai asked carefully.
"More like relief," Naruto answered faintly, staring off into the distance. Then he blinked and nodded. "It's like when you have to go to the bathroom really bad, and you couldn't for a while, and then when you do, it's really…" Naruto's voice trailed off as he shook his head.
Hinata was blushing again, and Shino's shoulders appeared to be quivering. Even the corners of Kurenai-sensei's mouth were turning up. It wasn't fair! "You did ask me what it felt like," Naruto finally said in exasperation.
"You are correct, Naruto," his jonin said with a nod. "While your choice of metaphor is unfortunate, it is also descriptive. You appear to have larger than normal chakra reserves, which would also explain your ability to use Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. While a large reserve is desirable in a shinobi, most do not develop so large a capacity until after they have mastered basic chakra control techniques. You need to practice limiting how much chakra you allow to… flow… into your jutsus, starting with this one. Water any plants along the roadside that appear to be dried out, and see if you can reduce your effect size until it is comparable to Shino and Hinata's."
Naruto nodded, grateful that something useful might come out of this debacle, besides managing to embarrass himself.
"In the future," Kurenai continued, "when we learn new jutsus, I'll try to give you an expectation of how much chakra to use, in relation to this one." She smiled. "We wouldn't want you to destroy your clothes with a cleansing jutsu, would we?"
Naruto laughed at that mental image, and wondered why Hinata squeaked and looked away.
Following his sensei's directions, Naruto spent most of the afternoon eroding various spots along the trail. Hinata watched him closely each time he paused to practice over some particularly parched-looking bush. Oddly enough, though, it didn't make him self-conscious. He supposed he was used to her watching him when they practiced chakra-control exercises.
Since the water-walking exercise, he hadn't had too many problems with the red chakra. According to Hinata, she could still occasionally see bits of it circulating through his coils where they ran close to the surface of his skin, but they didn't seem to be interfering as much anymore. Given what he knew about the probable source of the oddly-colored chakra, Naruto wasn't sure what to make of that. If the stupid fox was aware of what was going on, it might have figured out that ruining Naruto's training just made it more likely they would both die on a mission. But this was a demon, after all, so he wasn't sure he could ascribe normal logic to its actions.
Eventually, Naruto figured out how it should feel when he put just enough chakra into the jutsu. The first time he achieved this, Hinata gave him a broad smile, the first genuine one he'd seen from her since they left Konoha, and he promptly lost control of the jutsu and blasted the poor bush out by its roots. Hinata's face grew so chagrined that Naruto couldn't help but laugh out loud. Hinata looked down again, but eventually recovered and flashed a small grin of her own.
"You know," Naruto said, as they hustled along the road to get ahead of Kurenai and Shino again, "it's nice to be out of Konoha, at least for a little while."
"Hai," Hinata agreed, nodding slowly.
"It's one of the nice things about being a shinobi, I guess," he continued. "You get to travel a lot, going on missions."
"Naruto?" Hinata asked quietly.
Naruto turned toward the girl.
Her face had gone very still, and she regarded him with widened eyes. Her mouth opened and closed once, with no sound coming out. Then she swallowed and was able to speak. "D-do you ever think about leaving Konoha?" she asked quietly.
As Hinata asked the question he'd asked himself the day before, Naruto felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. He'd hoped she hadn't noticed the villagers' hateful eyes, and the way they acted. Their attitude was a little more subdued around his teammates than when he was alone, and he tried to avoid the meaner adults as much as possible when he was with them. He thought he'd pulled it off since neither Shino nor Hinata had asked him about it. But Hinata's question, combined with the look on her face, told him that she knew all too well what was going on. For a moment, Naruto felt exposed, like he'd been caught coming out of the bath.
The blond shinobi didn't need to ask if his face gave away some of his emotions, because Hinata abruptly turned her head. He understood she was trying to avoid embarrassing him, but the reminder that he'd lost control of his facial expression was unwelcome. "G-gomen," she said, studying a pine tree that appeared to have been struck by lightning at some point, "that is none of my business."
"You're allowed to ask," Naruto said quickly. "I don't know, really. Probably not," he reassured her. "Konoha is my home. I can't become Hokage if I leave, can I? Besides, someone has to keep you three entertained with 'unfortunate metaphors'," he added, grinning as she turned back.
"Hai!" she said in a small voice, and seemed to relax a little. Naruto realized she was probably worried about having to break in a new teammate if he ran away from Konoha, which was understandable. Just their luck, they'd be stuck with an idiot like Sasuke who'd be too busy looking cool to actually watch their backs.
By the time the sun was setting, Naruto felt like he had a pretty good feel for both the water gathering jutsu and how to limit his chakra output. Kurenai led them away from the road for several minutes, until they found a small clearing in which they could pitch their tents. Hinata volunteered to gather stones for a small fire while the others ventured into the woods as Kurenai discussed how they would divide up the necessary tasks. With the assistance of Shino's bugs, the three of them found some rabbits for their evening meal. Kurenai showed them the proper way to clean the animals. By the time they'd brought the dressed meat back to their camp, Hinata had a bright but smokeless fire going inside the sunken fire-pit she'd dug with the folding shovel from Kurenai's pack. It was deep enough that the flames would be invisible from more than a few yards away.
Naruto was hopeful when he noticed that Hinata also had several handfuls of greenery that she'd collected. He hoped those were spices, because just eating burnt rabbit didn't appeal to him that much… but with the way Hinata prepared things, he might be looking forward to dinner after all.
While Hinata tended the herb-stuffed rabbit sizzling on spits over the sunken fire, Naruto and Shino set up the tent they'd be sharing and Kurenai set up a tent for her and Hinata. By the time they were done, it was fully dark, and the appetizing smells were making Naruto's stomach rumble loudly.
When they sat down to eat, Naruto was dismayed to see that there was a field ration bar set out for each of them. Kurenai seemed to note his expression, because she was looking directly at him when she spoke. "Eat the rations first, then the rabbit. I'm sure Hinata has done an excellent job, if the smell is any indication, but each bar is designed to contain all the nutrients you should need for a day of high activity," she said. "I don't want to see any pieces of them left over. We're going to be a long way from the nearest hospital, so we can't afford for anyone to get sick."
"Hai," Naruto said in a resigned tone. He picked up the bar, unwrapped it, and crammed it into his mouth with little ceremony. He chewed slowly and, with frequent sips from his canteen, eventually swallowed the pasty mess. Then he let out a sigh and picked up the skewer Hinata had stuck in the ground before him. It smelled even better at close range, especially after the offensively bland ration bar. He paused, noting that everyone else was reaching for their skewers, and nodded toward Hinata and said "Itadakimasu!" with a broad smile.
The rabbit skewer lived up to his expectations, and he had to resist the urge to gobble it down. Instead, he ate it slowly, savoring the tasty meat. He glanced up at Hinata, who hadn't touched hers yet, and was instead looking nervously at her teammates. Naruto was amazed when he realized she was worried they wouldn't like it. "Hinata!" he said suddenly, making her jump.
"Hai!" she squeaked, and Naruto nearly laughed out loud at the expression on her face.
"What did you use on this rabbit?" he asked.
"Just some herbs I found," she answered hesitantly. "Did it turn out bad?" she asked, her face falling.
"No! No! No! It's really good!" Naruto quickly assured her. "I wasn't really looking forward to dinner until I smelled it cooking!"
"Naruto is correct, Hinata," Shino added, making Naruto jump a little when the normally silent boy spoke. "It is surprisingly flavorful."
Hinata just blinked, and a slow flush crept up her cheeks.
"They are correct, Hinata," their sensei added. But then she frowned. "But that does not mean you should always be stuck with the cooking. We should rotate tasks while we are on a mission."
Naruto frowned at his teacher for a moment. Then his eyes widened and he turned toward Hinata. "I'll do the wood gathering and water collection when it's your turn if you'll cook when it's my turn," he offered.
Shino turned toward Naruto and nodded after a moment's silence. "I will take your turns setting up the tents and hunting," he offered.
Hinata's blush grew darker, but Kurenai's voice cut in. "I expected better from both of you," she said in a frosty tone.
"Ano, Sensei," Hinata said quickly. "It's all right. I like to cook."
Kurenai didn't say anything else, but she gave both Naruto and Shino several dark looks as they consumed the skewers in silence. As they finished, Naruto gathered up the plates and utensils, and then bowed formally to the seething jonin. "Sensei, with your permission, I will demonstrate that I have mastered casting the water gathering jutsu at an appropriate strength level."  

[Pandora Green]

Kurenai eyed him for a moment, but then nodded.
Naruto carried the plates off into the woods. As they stepped away from the camp, he said "I don't want to get any of our equipment wet if it misfires or runs down the hill."
However, he led his teacher a lot further from the camp than was seemingly necessary. Finally, he stopped and set the plates down on top of an old log and turned back toward Kurenai. "Before we do anything else," he began, "I'd like to explain why I asked Hinata to trade tasks with me."
"There's a reason besides feeling like she should cook for you?" Kurenai asked coolly, "Or is there something else?"
"I cook for myself almost every day," Naruto said, scowling a little. "But Hinata's really good at it, and I think it'll make her feel better."
Kurenai looked a little puzzled. "Explain," she said. It didn't really sound like a request, either.
"I'm not really sure why," he admitted, "but it just seems to. Maybe because she's so good at it, and she likes to do something she knows she's good at? When we started training together in the evenings, she began bringing these really huge bentos and insisted on sharing her dinner with me. I figured out after a while that she always brought more than enough food for both of us. I never asked her to do it, but she seemed happy when I thanked her." He scratched his head. "I'm not sure what happened with her training the night before we left Konoha, but I'm hoping letting her do the cooking will make her feel better. We just need to make sure she knows we like what she makes."
Kurenai just looked at him for a long moment. "I owe you and Shino an apology, it seems."
Naruto just shrugged. "But it is true that she'll do a better job than I will," he said, with a small grin.
Kurenai smiled as well at his small confession. "That was fairly perceptive of you, Naruto," she said approvingly.
The boy just shrugged, though his cheeks reddened a little. "Maybe, but I'm not perceptive enough to figure out what's going on. There's something… wrong, isn't there?" he asked.
Kurenai took a deep breath. "Perhaps," she allowed, "but I am not permitted to say."
Naruto frowned. "I don't know what to do," he finally said.
Kurenai thought about his obvious concern for his teammate, and wondered if Hinata had noticed it yet. "I think it will come to you," she finally said. "Now, you were going to demonstrate your mastery of a certain jutsu?"
Naruto shook his head suddenly. "Hai," he said as he turned toward the plates and spread them out on the stump. "Suiton: Condensation!" he barked as he finished the seals.
A stream of water an inch and a half wide shot out of the chakra vortex that appeared in front of Naruto's palm. Though the stream did flow a bit quickly, it nonetheless rinsed off the plates and utensils without scattering them into the undergrowth.
"Much better," Kurenai said approvingly. "Was it difficult to keep it under control?" she asked.
"A little," Naruto admitted. "Is it because of… you know?"
Kurenai sighed and nodded. "I think so. But try to look at this positively. In the long run, I think it will be easier for you to learn to release chakra in smaller quantities than it would be for one of your classmates to build up a chakra capacity like yours."
Naruto frowned. "I suppose so," he said slowly. "Now I need to figure out the appropriate amounts of chakra to release for every jutsu I know."
"I can help you there," Kurenai assured him. "And if you are not overloading them every time you use them, you might find that they will misfire less often."
Naruto looked thoughtful as he gathered up the plates. "That's why I couldn't make a decent Bunshin for my genin exam, wasn't it?"
"But you can produce a horde of Kage Bunshin with greater reliability because it requires much more chakra… and therefore you aren't overloading the Jutsu as badly. That would make sense," she concluded in a thoughtful voice.
"Some times I want to just jam a kunai through that stupid seal," Naruto growled, "and see how that damn thing likes being messed with."
"I do not think that would be a good idea," Kurenai-sensei said in a very quiet voice. Naruto looked up and realized her face had become pale.
"I don't mean I want to cut my belly," Naruto said quickly. "I'm just tired of this thing messing up my life."
"Then the best revenge is living well, isn't it?" Kurenai asked.
Naruto looked thoughtful again as he shook the water off the plates and stacked them up. "I suppose it would be," he agreed.
By the time they returned to the campsite, Shino and Hinata had retired to their respective tents. With the watch rotation, Kurenai was to take the first shift, so Naruto went to his tent.
Shino was already in his sleeping bag, with only the top of his head visible. "Why exactly do you want Hinata to do all the cooking? I assume there is a reason aside from her considerable skill," the boy said, his voice slightly muffled.
"I think it might make her feel better," Naruto said as he removed his jacket and unzipped his patched bedroll. He didn't bother to remove the weights. "Just make sure you let her know how good it is."
"It was unusually well-prepared, especially given the conditions," Shino agreed. "So this is intended to build up her confidence?"
Naruto was silent for a moment as he stretched out and tried to get comfortable. "I suppose so. Something's bugging her though. That family training thing seems sort of messed up."
"The Hyuugas are a highly respected clan," Shino reminded him.
"Like the Uchiha's were?" Naruto asked, thinking about their last encounter with Sasuke.
"Point taken," Shino agreed.
OoOoO
The night passed uneventfully, and in the morning they ate the rest of the rabbit. Oddly enough, it was even better cold, and Naruto noticed Hinata blushing a little each time he made a happy sound as they ate. He watched out of the corner of his eye, hamming it up a little, and wondered why he found it so fun to tease the quiet kunoichi.
After they broke camp and resumed their journey, Naruto asked his sensei for another jutsu to practice as they walked. After a moment's thought, she agreed. But only if he could perform the water-gathering Jutsu ten times without a slip.
The first time, he failed on the ninth attempt, but after that he was able to produce ten without a hitch. Kurenai-sensei agreed that he had, indeed mastered the jutsu along with his teammates, and they took a short break from walking while she demonstrated a new technique.
"Now this is a combat jutsu," she said in a serious voice after showing them the seals. "Be very careful how you use it. This was supposedly developed in Cloud Country, by shinobi who were very impressed by the Jyuuken techniques. Rather than forcing chakra out of your hands when attacking, this allows you to convert a small amount of chakra into electrical energy, and keep it confined to your hands. If you strike an opponent while this is active, the electrical energy will arc into your target, causing some additional damage."
After asking her students some general questions, Kurenai sighed and launched into a lengthy explanation of electricity and how it behaved. Naruto found it a little confusing, but tried to take it all in. After all, he might have to fight someone using electrical attacks someday.
"So metal armor won't stop it very well, unless it's insulated," Naruto repeated back, "and don't use it in water unless I want to shock myself."
Kurenai nodded. "I can't believe they didn't cover basic physics at the academy."
"Ano," Hinata asked, "is it that important for shinobi?"
"There is no such thing as useless knowledge," Kurenai said in a very serious voice. Then she smiled. "While we walk, I will tell you how a lack of such knowledge caused a jonin to be defeated by a very junior chuunin."
Naruto understood, as his sensei told her story, that she was trying to teach them all something – and probably him in particular. What he didn't understand was why his previous teachers couldn't make their lessons as interesting as she did. He tripped and stumbled twice over ruts in the road, barely catching himself before he hit the ground, as Kurenai described the desperate struggle.
When Kurenai's tale reached its conclusion and the wounded female chuunin grabbed her opponent's weighted metallic chain and shocked him unconscious, Naruto couldn't help but leap into the air and cheer in a loud voice.
"I'm gratified that you found the story entertaining, but does anyone remember what we were discussing?" Kurenai asked acerbically.
"Your opponent was ignorant of the conductive properties of steel," Shino replied, "and did not understand that every time he attacked you with a metallic weapon, he was inviting an electrical counterstrike."
"I did not say the kunoichi involved was myself," Kurenai corrected modestly.
"You were not? I would find it hard to believe someone not involved in the fight could recall the pertinent details," Shino replied in a reasonable tone.
Kurenai inclined her head in acknowledgment, but did not speak further.
Naruto practiced the seals as they walked. According to Kurenai, the jutsu required a minimum chakra five times larger than the water gathering one. However, since the seals required both his hands to perform, Naruto had to discharge the electricity before he could try again. He accomplished this by stepping off the side of the path and slamming his palm into the trunk of the nearest tree.
The first time he did this, Naruto was disappointed by how little the tree reacted. The bark was totally unmarked, and he began wondering if he'd put the correct amount of chakra into the technique. So the next time he tried it, he increased the chakra, but it still left the bark unmarked.
Naruto frowned and pumped a little more chakra into the next attempt. There was a faint crackle when he slapped the next tree, but no other effect. Naruto scowled in frustration. "Raiton: Shocking Grasp!" he growled and really pushed some chakra into it this time. Now, the palm of his hand glowed with a bright golden light and a crackling that would drown out angry Kikai bugs filled the air. Naruto let out a whoop and slammed his palm into a tree trunk, even as Kurenai shouted behind him.
There was a bright flash, followed by a thunderous crack, and Naruto found himself picked up and flung bodily through the air. He slammed into the ground, knocking the breath out of his lungs as he slid through the undergrowth, wondering why his face hurt.
A few minutes later, Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the ground, being lectured.
"I can't believe you could be so irresponsible!" Kurenai fumed. "You could have killed yourself!"
"Ano," Naruto said, wincing as Hinata pulled another splinter out of his cheek. The flash made him screw his eyes shut which probably saved his eyes. His heavy jacket, gloves, and forehead protector also blocked the majority of the wooden shrapnel. He was glad of that, because the few bits that lodged in his flesh hurt badly enough. "Sensei, why did the tree explode like that? Every time I hit one before that, I didn't even leave a mark."
Kurenai stared at him for a moment. "Naruto, trees are grounded. Small electrical charges shouldn't damage them at all."
"Then why did that last one explode?" he asked.
"Because you put far too much chakra into that technique!" she snapped. "So much electrical current passed through the wood that it super-heated the sap inside, converting it into steam, and made it explode! That's what happens when lightning strikes a tree!"
"Really?" Naruto said, smiling despite the blood smeared on his cheeks. Hinata put away her tweezers and silently handed him a damp cloth. "That's great!"
Kurenai spun on her heel and quickly walked away.
"It would be great," Shino observed, "provided you manage to avoid blowing yourself up in the future."
"Well, yeah," Naruto said as he wiped off his face.
Hinata pulled out a small jar of medicinal cream, but the tiny punctures appeared to have closed on their own. She frowned slightly as she put the jar back into her bag.
Naruto stood up and dusted himself off. "Arigatou, Hinata-chan!"
Hinata ducked her head and blushed at the familiar form of address.
"Perhaps you should refrain from practicing any more jutsus until we reach the border," Shino said as they donned their backpacks.
"What are you, sensei now?" Naruto grumbled. He thought the Raiton Jutsu had totally kicked butt. It wasn't his fault he didn't know trees would explode.
"No," Shino replied, "but our orders are to relieve Dariketsu's team before nightfall today, and we're going to be late if there are any more delays."
Naruto looked up at the late afternoon sun and cringed. "Oi! Let's get moving!" he shouted and set off down the trail again.
OoOoO
The sky was beginning to darken in the East when Kurenai called a halt.
"What is it Sensei?" Naruto asked. He hoped she wasn't going to announce that they had failed. They had to be close to the border by now!
"Something…" Kurenai said, looking around. "Hinata?" she called out.
Naruto spun toward his teammate who'd been on point. She was no longer there. "Hinata!" he yelled.
Kurenai cocked her head to the side. "It's subtle, but… Naruto! Chakra Pulse!" she barked.
Naruto realized that his sensei must have sensed a Genjutsu and immediately began pushing his chakra inwards compressing it into a small, hard ball. Whoever had done this must have cast it between Hinata's Byakugan scans. While removing Hinata before she could detect the Genjutsu made tactical sense, it still infuriated Naruto. "Naruto Higi: Chakra Pulse!" he snarled when he felt like he was about to explode. He released the pulse.
The trees around them wavered as the chakra shockwave passed through them. Three of the trees were replaced by figures in dark cloaks. An arm protruded from one of the cloaks, holding up Hinata, who sagged limply like she was asleep.
Naruto was about to charge forward when Hinata's eyes shot open and her body twisted. Her hands flashed toward her captor's arm and suddenly she was spinning through the air like a doll thrown by a careless child. Hinata twisted in midair, stabilizing her tumble, and managed to land in a crouch next to Shino.
Naruto stepped forward, his hands falling into a familiar seal. "Kage Bunishin no-" he began, but stopped when he felt Kurenai's hand grip his shoulder. How had she gotten behind him so quickly?
"Aren't you a little old for playing games, Dariketsu?" his sensei asked in a very disapproving voice.
The middle figure snorted and threw back his hood. Dark hair was drawn back into a short pony-tail and even darker eyes glared contemptuously. "They have you on babysitting duty, Yuuhi?" he drawled, smirking.
Naruto ground his teeth together, but felt Kurenai's hand tighten even further on his shoulder and subsided. Her fingernails felt sharp.
"Hardly," Kurenai replied in a frosty tone. "You've been recalled to Konoha," she said as she pulled the red-sealed scroll out of her vest and tossed it to the shinobi.
The man's eyes widened. "Is this some kind of joke?" he asked as he cracked open the seal with a small flash of chakra.
"No," Kurenai replied. "The Hokage is tired of your bumbling. You're supposed to be securing the border, not provoking the Iwa ninjas for your own amusement."
"And you and these brats are going to do a better job? Have you lost your mind?" Dariketsu demanded, his face growing redder by the second.
"We are more than sufficient to achieve our objectives," Kurenai said coolly.
The man snorted. "The smallest Hyuuga I've ever seen, one of those bug users, and… is that, him?" he asked.
Naruto felt his stomach drop and he watched his teammates from the corner of his eye. He wanted to jump this idiot and pound him before he said any more, but Kurenai-sensei's hand was like an iron band around his shoulder.
"Yes, this is the infamous prankster Uzumaki Naruto, though his pranking days seem to be over," Kurenai replied. "He understands that shinobi are bound by the Hokage's laws, no matter where they are."
Dariketsu's eyes narrowed as they flickered from Naruto to his teammates. He turned his head and spat. "Fine, we will report to the Hokage. Try not to get murdered in your sleep by some bloodthirsty animal," he said in a sardonic tone. "Brand, Chusei, let's strike camp and leave these 'shinobi' to their mission. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get some warm sake in us."
A wind sprang out of nowhere, causing their cloaks to flap in the mysterious breeze. Then they were gone, with only a swirling torrent of wind-blown leaves to mark their place.
"Baka," Naruto growled.