The new outfit}
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.?
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??
?Ano, K-kurenai-sensei,? Hinata spoke up, ?how do my, I mean our abilities make us suited for such a role??
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.
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 caf? 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 bastard 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.
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.
__________________
Thanks for reading my Series!!
there will be another series coming up soon.
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.?
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??
?Ano, K-kurenai-sensei,? Hinata spoke up, ?how do my, I mean our abilities make us suited for such a role??
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.
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 caf? 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 bastard 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.
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.
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