Shiina Namikaze
Member
A/N: Sorry for the delay. Warning: I went totally overboard with the double entendres in this chapter, but I couldn't help myself. Enjoy.
The newly labeled Team 8 had followed after their new sensei and her friend, all of them sporting looks that ranged from lazy reluctance, to jealous suspicion, to nervous apprehension. The two older kunoichi on th4e other hand, had very different expressions. Anko hadn't dropped her sadistic grin even an inch during their five minute trek to one of the village's training fields, if anything it had actually grown larger. Kurenai on the other hand, want grinning even slightly, in fact she had been wearing a somewhat nasty scowl for the last few days, and it had only increased when they saw that the mysterious blonde source of her scowl, was on her team. Even after having Jiraiya and the Sandaime themselves explain the boy's back story, she still didn't seem any happier about his presence on the team.
This was for a few reasons but the most influential of them was pride. As much as people liked to think that they were above such a brutish concept, everyone has that caveman, or woman, inside them that refuses to let someone insult their pride, and this blonde had done so three times in less than a week! The first had been on only his first day in town. Both of the jounin had noticed the blonde stranger staring at them, but neither had thought much of it since it was far from an unusual occurrence, that was until he vanished without a trace so that neither of them could tell where he had gone or how he had done it, something that had not happened to either of the strong kunoichi in years.
The next insult came the following day when they had finally managed to track the man down, only for him to tell them some ridiculous story, at least Kurenai thought so, and then evade them once again.
The final, and most damaging slight came later that afternoon, when they had gone to report what had happened to the Hokage, only to be told that what he told them was true and that he was actually a member of her team. Whilst many jounin would have been excited at the prospect of having such a powerful young student on their team, Kurenai was a genjutsu specialist and, as such, was better than most at looking underneath the underneath. Because of this, the red eyed woman was able to see through the "his genjutsu needs work" excuse that she had been given, to the truth of the matter, they thought she needed the back up.
It was no secret that she was the "freshest" of the jounin instructors getting teams this semester, nor was it unknown that several people had questioned her ability to keep her team safe if a situation got out of hand, no doubt a combination of two prejudices that she was more that familiar with. Kurenai, throughout her career, had been almost constantly underestimated for two reasons. One, she was a woman, and despite the massive strides made by legendary kunoichi like Tsunade, that was still seen as a weakness but a disgusting amount of the ninja population. The second reason was due to her choice of specialty. It was widely accepted, mostly by the same idiots who thought women were weak, that genjutsu was the least useful of the three major disciplines. Therefore, as both a woman and a genjutsu focused ninja, she was largely renowned as the weakest of the village's jounin, a title that was only added to by her relatively recent ascent to the rank.
She also knew that Kakashi was perfectly capable of helping the boy with his illusion deficiency, not to mention that he would literally leap at the chance to teach his sensei's only son. Therefore the only reason for the jounin level gennin to be placed on her team was because the higher ups thought that she was incapable of protecting her team by herself. And that was the reason that found her scowling at the three "children" before her, though she still disputed the blonde's inclusion in that label, as he had neither the physiology nor the abilities of a child. Being snapped out of her broodings by Anko violently shaking her shoulder, the red eyed jounin realised that everyone had been waiting on her for a few minutes.
"Okay, as Iruka told you, we are here because you three have to pass my test to see whether or not you are allowed to become full gennin under myself." She declared grumpily.
Naruto fought back the urge to giggle perversely at her choice of words, her expression was more than enough to tell him that it would not be a good idea.
"Uh, Nai-chan, not that I usually mind skipping right to the action," Anko interrupted, giving a wink at Naruto with the double entendre before she continued, "but don't they usually do the introductions before the test?" Both of the other females sent a glare at the woman, though for very different reasons.
"Fine, let's get this over with. You, lazy ass Nara, you go first." She ordered, getting a low muttering under the boy's breath.
"My name is Shikamaru Nara. I like playing shougi and watching clouds. I dislike anything troublesome, which is pretty much everything else. My dream is to have an average career, marry an average woman, have two kids and retire as soon as possible." The black haired boy muttered, getting a chuckle from everyone but Kurenai, who only scowled harder at him.
"Okay, Hinata, you go next." She ordered, her tone and face actually becoming a bit softer when she looked at the girl.
"My name is Hinata Hyuuga. I like cinnamon rolls, dancing and my Naru-kun. I dislike sluts that try to steal other people's boyfriends. And my dream is to help reunite my clan's two families." She declared, with no one missing the vicious glares that she sent to Anko.
"Alright, Naruto, your turn."
"Okay, my name is Naruto Namikaze. I like Hina-chan and Aya-chan, my girlfriends, training and learning new things. I dislike people who judge others without getting to know them. My dream is to establish my clan and surpass my Tou-san as the greatest Hokage ever." The blonde declared proudly, getting a smile from Hinata and Anko and a shake of the head from Shikamaru, Kurenai didn't outwardly react.
"Okay, now that is out of the wa-"
"What about you Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata interrupted, getting a sigh from the woman.
"Fine. My name is Kurenai Yuuhi. I like genjutsu and my friends. I dislike people who underestimate women and genjutsu and I absolutely hate perverts. My dream is to prove to everyone that women and genjutsu users are not to be underestimated." She declared, glaring at Naruto for his comment about "girlfriends".
"Okay, how bout we explain the test now?" Anko suggested, trying to break up the weirdly dark atmosphere that had developed.
"Alright. So we were going to be doing the standard bell test, but since everyone seems to think that I'm not good enough to do anything by myself, I've modified it to include Anko." The black haired woman growled darkly, making everyone but Anko wonder what she was so upset about. "Normally, this test would have you three trying to get the bells attached to my belt, and that much still stands, but rather than just trying to overcome me, you will also have to get around Anko, who will be acting as my body guard. Also, anyone that does not get one of the bells by noon will be sent back to the academy, so I suggest that you take this test seriously."
"But sensei, you've only got two bells, does that mean that one of us will definitely be going back?" Hinata asked, her pre-Naruto nervousness starting to reemerge, but she was comforted as her man gave her hand a comforting squeeze.
The blonde looked over to Shikamaru, who appeared to be deep in thought and gave him a subtle nod, which the boy replied with his own, they knew there was more to this test than met the eye.
"Your time starts now." Kurenai suddenly announced and all three of the potential gennin vanished in an instant.
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Naruto and Hinata were crouched in the nearby forest, both overlooking the two jounin, who hadn't moved since the test began. They both turned when they heard a noise to their left, moments before Shikamaru appeared, his face still wearing his usual lazy expression, despite the circumstances.
"You figured it out too?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from the lazy boy.
"Get what?" Hinata asked, not understanding what they were talking about.
"All gennin squads consist of three gennin and a jounin, there is no way that the standard test would leave the team with a maximum of two students, which means either this isn't the standard test, or there is more to this exam than she explained." Shikamaru explained.
"It's the second. Both Tou-san and Ero-jiisan had to do this test, so she wasn't lying about that part. That means that she was lying about the rules. Since this test is quite obviously trying to get us to work against each other, I'd say the true purpose is to test if we can overcome that and work together as a team." Naruto replied, getting nods of agreement from his teammates.
"Sounds about right. No normal gennin would be able to get a bell off a jounin by themselves, they'd have to work together to have any chance of passing." The Nara agreed.
"Okay, so we work together. Any ideas how?" Hinata asked.
"Since you two have announced your relationship, they'll probably expect you to work together and leave me by myself. We can use that to our advantage. Kurenai-sensei seems to have a soft spot for Hinata, and since that Anko lady looks like a psycho, she probably wouldn't want them to fight each other, which means that she'll let Anko fight Naruto while she takes on Hinata. Assuming that you two aren't actually jounin level, that's a pretty solid plan and they would win 99 percent of the time."
"Except that I am jounin level and Hina-chan's specialties are genjutsu defense and taijutsu, meaning she is the worst possible opponent for a genjutsu mistress. And then if you add in that you will be working with us, we should be able to do this." Naruto added, getting nods from the other two, and a blush from Hinata at his praise.
"So we'll pretend to play into their plan. Hina-chan and I will attack, with me going for Anko and Hina-chan going for Kurenai-sensei. But then, when there is an opening, you jump out and join her. Eventually you two can get her restrained, either with the Kagemane no jutsu or Jyuuken and grab the bells, while I keep Anko busy."
Everyone nodded and they set off to set their plan into motion.
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Anko, having become bored with just standing around and trying to annoy her friend, had begun to juggle some kunai and was up to six when two of the gennin hopefuls emerged from their hiding spots. She continued her trick as her grin returned and she couldn't help but tease the young couple even more.
"Finished your quickie in the woods?" she cooed, getting a blush and scowl from both teens, though the ratio of scowl to blush varied between them.
"And she was fantastic." Naruto replied, getting a hotter blush from Hinata, a bigger grin from Anko and a downright murderous glare from Kurenai.
"Enough talk! Are you coming for the bells or not?" Kurenai demanded, putting an end to their inappropriate banter.
"I don't need to, Hina-chan can handle you all by herself. I figured me and Anko here could go have some fun while she whoops your ass and takes the bells for us." Naruto declared, getting an even wider grin from Anko and glares from Hinata and Kurenai.
"You can do this Hime." The blonde whispered into the lavender eyed girl's ear as he gave her a warm hug. Hinata nodded as he pulled back and gave him a stern look.
"We haven't approved her." She declared, getting a sheepish grin from Naruto who nodded, remembering the rules he agreed to, before he turned and leapt away, the eager Anko following quickly after, ignoring the warning glare the young girl was sending her.
"Are you ready Hinata?" Kurenai asked as she slipped into her fighting stance, getting the attention of the Hyuuga heiress, who nodded as she entered her family's stance.
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Naruto lead Anko to the other side of the training field, not a particularly long distance, but enough that it would be difficult for either of them to interfere in the other fight. Turning to the older woman, he couldn't help but grin at her eager expression.
"So, you and the Hyuuga heiress eh? I'd think she'd be too timid for you, considering who you were raised by and the little chat we had the other day." Anko said as she came to a stop a few feet opposite the young blonde.
"I'm a man of varying tastes. Whilst I can't deny the appeal of more amorous women such as yourself, the shy, innocent type have a certain appeal of their own. And with my unique circumstances, I don't have to make the choice between the two." Naruto replied.
"What circumstances?" she asked, confused by his statement.
"Because of who Tou-san was, I've been placed under the Clan Restoration Act, which means that I have to take at least four wives by my fourteenth birthday, in a little over a year from now. Hina-chan and Aya-chan have agreed to be the first members of my family." The young man explained.
"So you're starting a harem? I'm surprised she would go for it, she doesn't seem like the sharing type."
"It's not a harem. It's just going to be a large family. The ladies agreed on the conditions that they be treated equally and have final say in anyone that I want to add to the family. I refuse to be a part of a family that isn't built around love, I'd sooner die." Naruto declared firmly, getting a surprised gasp from the woman as she could see the truth and determination in his statement.
"You're serious? You have a free pass to fill your life with willing ***** and you're limiting yourself to women that you love and that your other women approve of? I wouldn't have pegged you for a romantic." She admitted, struggling to believe the boy even though she could tell he wasn't lying.
"Hey, I may have a greater than average appreciation for the splendor of the female form, but I grew up on the road with Ero-jiisan, so all I had was my family. There is nothing in this world that I hold higher than that, so I will not be a part of one that does not have love at its center."
Anko stared at the man before her for a few moments before she shook her head and her grin returned. "That's enough of that, we're supposed to be in a test here." She stated as she drew two kunai and slipped into a ready stance.
"So we are." Naruto replied as he pulled the staff off his back for the first time since entering the village, making Anko raise an eyebrow.
"So you do actually use that thing, I thought it was just there for decoration." She taunted as she charged him, only to find her attacks blocked effortlessly.
"Oh no, I think you'll find that I'm quite adept at using my staff." He replied, grinning at the double entendre.
"Good to know, though I am concerned by how big it is, you're not overcompensating for something else, are you?" she asked as she tried several more attacks, all of which were quickly blocked, before he lashed out and struck both of her wrists in quick succession, making her drop her weapons on reflex.
"Not at all, I was just so used to handling such a large pole, that anything smaller than this one, just didn't seem comfortable." He countered, trying for a sweep with his staff only for her to jump over it and counter with a high spin kick that he barely managed to block.
"Handled a lot of poles have you?" she taunted as she leapt back and started the handseals for one of her favourite jutsu. "Seneijashu!" she cried, raising her arms as four snakes shot out of each of her sleeves, two from each wrapping around the staff whilst the other two struck at his hands, forcing him to release his weapon, leaving it open for Anko to retrieve it, catching it as her snakes retracted up her sleeves, leaving her holding his weapon with a grin.
Naruto shifted to a relaxed stance, not looking at all troubled by his disbarment. "You know if you wanted a turn with my staff, you only had to ask."
"Really? What about your girls having final say, don't I have to apply to them first?" she asked, examining the strange weapon she stole from the boy. It was easily 6 feet long, taller than its blonde wielder, and more than 2 inches thick, but despite its impressive size and apparent solid steel composition, it felt like it weighed no more than if it was made of wood. Looking closer at the black surface, she was able to make out fine engravings that were obviously there for more than to increase his grip on the weapon, they appeared to be intricate seals, only the covered the entire surface of the pole.
"I see you noticed the seals. Ero-jiisan gave me that when I completed developing my own style with my practice staff. They have so many effects I still haven't figured them all out and I got it nearly 4 years ago. The most obvious one, as I'm sure you've noticed, is that they make the staff weigh only a fraction of what it should considering its solid metal." He explained.
Anko stared in wonder at the weapon, it was easily one of the more impressive she had ever seen, and she'd seen a lot. "What else can it do?" she asked eagerly, having been apprenticed to a master who was quite adept at seals, she had always been somewhat fascinated by them.
"Try channelling some chakra into it." Naruto suggested with a grin. Anko shrugged and did so, forcing a small amount of her life energy into the pole. Immediately, there was a bright flash and the snake mistress felt a sharp pain in her hands, forcing her to release the weapon, which fell to the ground.
"What the ****?" she roared, examining her tingling hands.
"Sorry, but I couldn't resist. One of the seals prevents anyone else from using its more complex features which require chakra, by sending it back to them in the form of an electric shock. If you had used any more, your hands would be completely numb for a few days." He explained with a light chuckle.
The purple haired jounin glared at the laughing boy, rubbing her hands to get the feeling back into them. "You're gonna pay for that." She declared, causing an abrupt stop to his laughter.
"Come now Anko-chan, don't be like that." He said, getting a raised eyebrow from the woman.
"Anko-chan? Who said you could call me that?" she asked with clearly fake anger written across her face.
"Naruto smirked. "Who said that you could call me Naru-kun in front of my girlfriend and get me in trouble?" he replied.
Anko shrugged as she bent over and carefully picked up his staff again. "Fair enough, you might wanna be careful calling me that in front of your little princess, she seems to have enough trouble with me as it is."
"Eh, she'll be fine, she's just not quite used to being in a relationship yet. Besides, I think she'll be too busy celebrating to care." Naruto declared with his own shrug.
"Celebrating? Celebrating what?" she asked as she stepped into a fighting stance with his pole.
"That." The blonde answered simply as he pointed over her shoulder in the direction they had come from.
In a real fight Anko would never have considered turning to look after such a blatant prompt, but since this was barely even a spar, she swivelled her head and barked out a laugh as she saw an even angrier looking Kurenai, standing in between two of her students, one of whom was holding his hands in a seal, while the other calmly walked over and took the bells off her belt.
"Looks like your teammates managed to pass, too bad for you." Anko announced with a victorious smirk.
"Yeah it is, or at least it would be if that was how the test worked, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the true aim of this exam was to see how well we worked together as a team. And since I distracted the bodyguard and allowed my teammates to work together to complete the objective, I'd say we did pretty good." Naruto replied with his own victorious smirk.
"So you did. Just because the test is over doesn't mean I'm giving this back though." She taunted as she turned and ran towards the others.
Naruto sighed and chased after her, arriving a few minutes after she did.
"We did it Naru-kun!" Hinata cheered as she leapt into his arms and wrapped him in a tight embrace.
"I knew you could Hime." Naruto declared as he leant in and gave her a tender kiss, that was ended abruptly by Kurenai grumpily clearing her throat.
"I don't see what you're celebrating about Naru-"
"Don't bother Nai-chan, I already tried, the brats already figured out the true meaning." Anko interrupted, pouting at both their defeat and the young couple's kiss.
Kurenai sighed before looking back to the three gennin. "Is that right?" she asked, sighing again when they all nodded. "Then congratulations I suppose, you've all passed the test and are now official gennin. Meet me here tomorrow at 8 and we'll begin our training." She grumbled before leaving using her shunshin.
"What's her problem?" Shikamaru asked as he fell onto his butt and relaxed.
"She thinks that the Hokage and the council have put me on her team because they don't trust her abilities to keep a team of gennin safe on a mission." Naruto answered, getting surprised looks from his teammates and an agreeing nod from Anko.
"And when you put that on top of a career where she has been underestimated and looked down on almost every day, it's not really surprising she's upset." She added.
"But that's ridiculous, why would anyone look down on someone because they are a woman or they specialise in genjutsu?" Hinata asked.
"The same reason they would do it to someone who was seen as too gentle or the container to a monster or any other difference, they're fools who don't know to look past the surface to see someone's true value." Naruto replied as he pulled her into a warm embrace, the anger and frustration in his tone was plain for everyone to see and it left Shikamaru and Anko both with a lot to think about.
"Come on Hina-chan, let's go see if Aya-chan has had her lunch break yet. See you tomorrow Shika. Anko-chan, it's been interesting as always." The blonde declared as he walked off with his arm wrapped around his girl.
Shikamaru said nothing as he walked off, leaving Anko by herself as she looked down and saw that the boy had apparently forgotten to reclaim his staff. "Probably looking for an excuse to come see me later." Anko declared with a smirk as she struck a pose with the pole. She almost squealed in shock as her purloined weapon suddenly became enshrouded in a puff of smoke. When it cleared, Anko found herself holding a familiar blonde teen rather than his staff. "Naru-kun?" she asked, wondering how he did that.
"Not quite. I'm a kage bunshin. The boss kawarimied me with the staff after you dropped it." He replied with a wide grin.
"Then why did you wait so long to reveal yourself?" she asked.
The clone's grin spread even further. "We like having beautiful ladies holding our staff. And you've gotta admit, you looked pretty hot with our pole in your hands." He replied with a chuckle before dispelling in a plume of smoke.
"Cheeky bastard...damn it if he ain't cute though." She exclaimed before using her own shunshin to leave the area.
Chapter End
Kagemane no jutsu = Shadow Imitation Technique
Seneijashu = Hidden Shadow Snake Hand
A/N: Sorry that it's so short, but this was hard to write and I felt that was a fairly reasonable place to stop. Next chapter, assuming I ever get around to writing it, will be almost entirely fluff and might include TWO lemons. Till then, let me know what you think.
The newly labeled Team 8 had followed after their new sensei and her friend, all of them sporting looks that ranged from lazy reluctance, to jealous suspicion, to nervous apprehension. The two older kunoichi on th4e other hand, had very different expressions. Anko hadn't dropped her sadistic grin even an inch during their five minute trek to one of the village's training fields, if anything it had actually grown larger. Kurenai on the other hand, want grinning even slightly, in fact she had been wearing a somewhat nasty scowl for the last few days, and it had only increased when they saw that the mysterious blonde source of her scowl, was on her team. Even after having Jiraiya and the Sandaime themselves explain the boy's back story, she still didn't seem any happier about his presence on the team.
This was for a few reasons but the most influential of them was pride. As much as people liked to think that they were above such a brutish concept, everyone has that caveman, or woman, inside them that refuses to let someone insult their pride, and this blonde had done so three times in less than a week! The first had been on only his first day in town. Both of the jounin had noticed the blonde stranger staring at them, but neither had thought much of it since it was far from an unusual occurrence, that was until he vanished without a trace so that neither of them could tell where he had gone or how he had done it, something that had not happened to either of the strong kunoichi in years.
The next insult came the following day when they had finally managed to track the man down, only for him to tell them some ridiculous story, at least Kurenai thought so, and then evade them once again.
The final, and most damaging slight came later that afternoon, when they had gone to report what had happened to the Hokage, only to be told that what he told them was true and that he was actually a member of her team. Whilst many jounin would have been excited at the prospect of having such a powerful young student on their team, Kurenai was a genjutsu specialist and, as such, was better than most at looking underneath the underneath. Because of this, the red eyed woman was able to see through the "his genjutsu needs work" excuse that she had been given, to the truth of the matter, they thought she needed the back up.
It was no secret that she was the "freshest" of the jounin instructors getting teams this semester, nor was it unknown that several people had questioned her ability to keep her team safe if a situation got out of hand, no doubt a combination of two prejudices that she was more that familiar with. Kurenai, throughout her career, had been almost constantly underestimated for two reasons. One, she was a woman, and despite the massive strides made by legendary kunoichi like Tsunade, that was still seen as a weakness but a disgusting amount of the ninja population. The second reason was due to her choice of specialty. It was widely accepted, mostly by the same idiots who thought women were weak, that genjutsu was the least useful of the three major disciplines. Therefore, as both a woman and a genjutsu focused ninja, she was largely renowned as the weakest of the village's jounin, a title that was only added to by her relatively recent ascent to the rank.
She also knew that Kakashi was perfectly capable of helping the boy with his illusion deficiency, not to mention that he would literally leap at the chance to teach his sensei's only son. Therefore the only reason for the jounin level gennin to be placed on her team was because the higher ups thought that she was incapable of protecting her team by herself. And that was the reason that found her scowling at the three "children" before her, though she still disputed the blonde's inclusion in that label, as he had neither the physiology nor the abilities of a child. Being snapped out of her broodings by Anko violently shaking her shoulder, the red eyed jounin realised that everyone had been waiting on her for a few minutes.
"Okay, as Iruka told you, we are here because you three have to pass my test to see whether or not you are allowed to become full gennin under myself." She declared grumpily.
Naruto fought back the urge to giggle perversely at her choice of words, her expression was more than enough to tell him that it would not be a good idea.
"Uh, Nai-chan, not that I usually mind skipping right to the action," Anko interrupted, giving a wink at Naruto with the double entendre before she continued, "but don't they usually do the introductions before the test?" Both of the other females sent a glare at the woman, though for very different reasons.
"Fine, let's get this over with. You, lazy ass Nara, you go first." She ordered, getting a low muttering under the boy's breath.
"My name is Shikamaru Nara. I like playing shougi and watching clouds. I dislike anything troublesome, which is pretty much everything else. My dream is to have an average career, marry an average woman, have two kids and retire as soon as possible." The black haired boy muttered, getting a chuckle from everyone but Kurenai, who only scowled harder at him.
"Okay, Hinata, you go next." She ordered, her tone and face actually becoming a bit softer when she looked at the girl.
"My name is Hinata Hyuuga. I like cinnamon rolls, dancing and my Naru-kun. I dislike sluts that try to steal other people's boyfriends. And my dream is to help reunite my clan's two families." She declared, with no one missing the vicious glares that she sent to Anko.
"Alright, Naruto, your turn."
"Okay, my name is Naruto Namikaze. I like Hina-chan and Aya-chan, my girlfriends, training and learning new things. I dislike people who judge others without getting to know them. My dream is to establish my clan and surpass my Tou-san as the greatest Hokage ever." The blonde declared proudly, getting a smile from Hinata and Anko and a shake of the head from Shikamaru, Kurenai didn't outwardly react.
"Okay, now that is out of the wa-"
"What about you Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata interrupted, getting a sigh from the woman.
"Fine. My name is Kurenai Yuuhi. I like genjutsu and my friends. I dislike people who underestimate women and genjutsu and I absolutely hate perverts. My dream is to prove to everyone that women and genjutsu users are not to be underestimated." She declared, glaring at Naruto for his comment about "girlfriends".
"Okay, how bout we explain the test now?" Anko suggested, trying to break up the weirdly dark atmosphere that had developed.
"Alright. So we were going to be doing the standard bell test, but since everyone seems to think that I'm not good enough to do anything by myself, I've modified it to include Anko." The black haired woman growled darkly, making everyone but Anko wonder what she was so upset about. "Normally, this test would have you three trying to get the bells attached to my belt, and that much still stands, but rather than just trying to overcome me, you will also have to get around Anko, who will be acting as my body guard. Also, anyone that does not get one of the bells by noon will be sent back to the academy, so I suggest that you take this test seriously."
"But sensei, you've only got two bells, does that mean that one of us will definitely be going back?" Hinata asked, her pre-Naruto nervousness starting to reemerge, but she was comforted as her man gave her hand a comforting squeeze.
The blonde looked over to Shikamaru, who appeared to be deep in thought and gave him a subtle nod, which the boy replied with his own, they knew there was more to this test than met the eye.
"Your time starts now." Kurenai suddenly announced and all three of the potential gennin vanished in an instant.
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Naruto and Hinata were crouched in the nearby forest, both overlooking the two jounin, who hadn't moved since the test began. They both turned when they heard a noise to their left, moments before Shikamaru appeared, his face still wearing his usual lazy expression, despite the circumstances.
"You figured it out too?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from the lazy boy.
"Get what?" Hinata asked, not understanding what they were talking about.
"All gennin squads consist of three gennin and a jounin, there is no way that the standard test would leave the team with a maximum of two students, which means either this isn't the standard test, or there is more to this exam than she explained." Shikamaru explained.
"It's the second. Both Tou-san and Ero-jiisan had to do this test, so she wasn't lying about that part. That means that she was lying about the rules. Since this test is quite obviously trying to get us to work against each other, I'd say the true purpose is to test if we can overcome that and work together as a team." Naruto replied, getting nods of agreement from his teammates.
"Sounds about right. No normal gennin would be able to get a bell off a jounin by themselves, they'd have to work together to have any chance of passing." The Nara agreed.
"Okay, so we work together. Any ideas how?" Hinata asked.
"Since you two have announced your relationship, they'll probably expect you to work together and leave me by myself. We can use that to our advantage. Kurenai-sensei seems to have a soft spot for Hinata, and since that Anko lady looks like a psycho, she probably wouldn't want them to fight each other, which means that she'll let Anko fight Naruto while she takes on Hinata. Assuming that you two aren't actually jounin level, that's a pretty solid plan and they would win 99 percent of the time."
"Except that I am jounin level and Hina-chan's specialties are genjutsu defense and taijutsu, meaning she is the worst possible opponent for a genjutsu mistress. And then if you add in that you will be working with us, we should be able to do this." Naruto added, getting nods from the other two, and a blush from Hinata at his praise.
"So we'll pretend to play into their plan. Hina-chan and I will attack, with me going for Anko and Hina-chan going for Kurenai-sensei. But then, when there is an opening, you jump out and join her. Eventually you two can get her restrained, either with the Kagemane no jutsu or Jyuuken and grab the bells, while I keep Anko busy."
Everyone nodded and they set off to set their plan into motion.
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Anko, having become bored with just standing around and trying to annoy her friend, had begun to juggle some kunai and was up to six when two of the gennin hopefuls emerged from their hiding spots. She continued her trick as her grin returned and she couldn't help but tease the young couple even more.
"Finished your quickie in the woods?" she cooed, getting a blush and scowl from both teens, though the ratio of scowl to blush varied between them.
"And she was fantastic." Naruto replied, getting a hotter blush from Hinata, a bigger grin from Anko and a downright murderous glare from Kurenai.
"Enough talk! Are you coming for the bells or not?" Kurenai demanded, putting an end to their inappropriate banter.
"I don't need to, Hina-chan can handle you all by herself. I figured me and Anko here could go have some fun while she whoops your ass and takes the bells for us." Naruto declared, getting an even wider grin from Anko and glares from Hinata and Kurenai.
"You can do this Hime." The blonde whispered into the lavender eyed girl's ear as he gave her a warm hug. Hinata nodded as he pulled back and gave him a stern look.
"We haven't approved her." She declared, getting a sheepish grin from Naruto who nodded, remembering the rules he agreed to, before he turned and leapt away, the eager Anko following quickly after, ignoring the warning glare the young girl was sending her.
"Are you ready Hinata?" Kurenai asked as she slipped into her fighting stance, getting the attention of the Hyuuga heiress, who nodded as she entered her family's stance.
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Naruto lead Anko to the other side of the training field, not a particularly long distance, but enough that it would be difficult for either of them to interfere in the other fight. Turning to the older woman, he couldn't help but grin at her eager expression.
"So, you and the Hyuuga heiress eh? I'd think she'd be too timid for you, considering who you were raised by and the little chat we had the other day." Anko said as she came to a stop a few feet opposite the young blonde.
"I'm a man of varying tastes. Whilst I can't deny the appeal of more amorous women such as yourself, the shy, innocent type have a certain appeal of their own. And with my unique circumstances, I don't have to make the choice between the two." Naruto replied.
"What circumstances?" she asked, confused by his statement.
"Because of who Tou-san was, I've been placed under the Clan Restoration Act, which means that I have to take at least four wives by my fourteenth birthday, in a little over a year from now. Hina-chan and Aya-chan have agreed to be the first members of my family." The young man explained.
"So you're starting a harem? I'm surprised she would go for it, she doesn't seem like the sharing type."
"It's not a harem. It's just going to be a large family. The ladies agreed on the conditions that they be treated equally and have final say in anyone that I want to add to the family. I refuse to be a part of a family that isn't built around love, I'd sooner die." Naruto declared firmly, getting a surprised gasp from the woman as she could see the truth and determination in his statement.
"You're serious? You have a free pass to fill your life with willing ***** and you're limiting yourself to women that you love and that your other women approve of? I wouldn't have pegged you for a romantic." She admitted, struggling to believe the boy even though she could tell he wasn't lying.
"Hey, I may have a greater than average appreciation for the splendor of the female form, but I grew up on the road with Ero-jiisan, so all I had was my family. There is nothing in this world that I hold higher than that, so I will not be a part of one that does not have love at its center."
Anko stared at the man before her for a few moments before she shook her head and her grin returned. "That's enough of that, we're supposed to be in a test here." She stated as she drew two kunai and slipped into a ready stance.
"So we are." Naruto replied as he pulled the staff off his back for the first time since entering the village, making Anko raise an eyebrow.
"So you do actually use that thing, I thought it was just there for decoration." She taunted as she charged him, only to find her attacks blocked effortlessly.
"Oh no, I think you'll find that I'm quite adept at using my staff." He replied, grinning at the double entendre.
"Good to know, though I am concerned by how big it is, you're not overcompensating for something else, are you?" she asked as she tried several more attacks, all of which were quickly blocked, before he lashed out and struck both of her wrists in quick succession, making her drop her weapons on reflex.
"Not at all, I was just so used to handling such a large pole, that anything smaller than this one, just didn't seem comfortable." He countered, trying for a sweep with his staff only for her to jump over it and counter with a high spin kick that he barely managed to block.
"Handled a lot of poles have you?" she taunted as she leapt back and started the handseals for one of her favourite jutsu. "Seneijashu!" she cried, raising her arms as four snakes shot out of each of her sleeves, two from each wrapping around the staff whilst the other two struck at his hands, forcing him to release his weapon, leaving it open for Anko to retrieve it, catching it as her snakes retracted up her sleeves, leaving her holding his weapon with a grin.
Naruto shifted to a relaxed stance, not looking at all troubled by his disbarment. "You know if you wanted a turn with my staff, you only had to ask."
"Really? What about your girls having final say, don't I have to apply to them first?" she asked, examining the strange weapon she stole from the boy. It was easily 6 feet long, taller than its blonde wielder, and more than 2 inches thick, but despite its impressive size and apparent solid steel composition, it felt like it weighed no more than if it was made of wood. Looking closer at the black surface, she was able to make out fine engravings that were obviously there for more than to increase his grip on the weapon, they appeared to be intricate seals, only the covered the entire surface of the pole.
"I see you noticed the seals. Ero-jiisan gave me that when I completed developing my own style with my practice staff. They have so many effects I still haven't figured them all out and I got it nearly 4 years ago. The most obvious one, as I'm sure you've noticed, is that they make the staff weigh only a fraction of what it should considering its solid metal." He explained.
Anko stared in wonder at the weapon, it was easily one of the more impressive she had ever seen, and she'd seen a lot. "What else can it do?" she asked eagerly, having been apprenticed to a master who was quite adept at seals, she had always been somewhat fascinated by them.
"Try channelling some chakra into it." Naruto suggested with a grin. Anko shrugged and did so, forcing a small amount of her life energy into the pole. Immediately, there was a bright flash and the snake mistress felt a sharp pain in her hands, forcing her to release the weapon, which fell to the ground.
"What the ****?" she roared, examining her tingling hands.
"Sorry, but I couldn't resist. One of the seals prevents anyone else from using its more complex features which require chakra, by sending it back to them in the form of an electric shock. If you had used any more, your hands would be completely numb for a few days." He explained with a light chuckle.
The purple haired jounin glared at the laughing boy, rubbing her hands to get the feeling back into them. "You're gonna pay for that." She declared, causing an abrupt stop to his laughter.
"Come now Anko-chan, don't be like that." He said, getting a raised eyebrow from the woman.
"Anko-chan? Who said you could call me that?" she asked with clearly fake anger written across her face.
"Naruto smirked. "Who said that you could call me Naru-kun in front of my girlfriend and get me in trouble?" he replied.
Anko shrugged as she bent over and carefully picked up his staff again. "Fair enough, you might wanna be careful calling me that in front of your little princess, she seems to have enough trouble with me as it is."
"Eh, she'll be fine, she's just not quite used to being in a relationship yet. Besides, I think she'll be too busy celebrating to care." Naruto declared with his own shrug.
"Celebrating? Celebrating what?" she asked as she stepped into a fighting stance with his pole.
"That." The blonde answered simply as he pointed over her shoulder in the direction they had come from.
In a real fight Anko would never have considered turning to look after such a blatant prompt, but since this was barely even a spar, she swivelled her head and barked out a laugh as she saw an even angrier looking Kurenai, standing in between two of her students, one of whom was holding his hands in a seal, while the other calmly walked over and took the bells off her belt.
"Looks like your teammates managed to pass, too bad for you." Anko announced with a victorious smirk.
"Yeah it is, or at least it would be if that was how the test worked, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the true aim of this exam was to see how well we worked together as a team. And since I distracted the bodyguard and allowed my teammates to work together to complete the objective, I'd say we did pretty good." Naruto replied with his own victorious smirk.
"So you did. Just because the test is over doesn't mean I'm giving this back though." She taunted as she turned and ran towards the others.
Naruto sighed and chased after her, arriving a few minutes after she did.
"We did it Naru-kun!" Hinata cheered as she leapt into his arms and wrapped him in a tight embrace.
"I knew you could Hime." Naruto declared as he leant in and gave her a tender kiss, that was ended abruptly by Kurenai grumpily clearing her throat.
"I don't see what you're celebrating about Naru-"
"Don't bother Nai-chan, I already tried, the brats already figured out the true meaning." Anko interrupted, pouting at both their defeat and the young couple's kiss.
Kurenai sighed before looking back to the three gennin. "Is that right?" she asked, sighing again when they all nodded. "Then congratulations I suppose, you've all passed the test and are now official gennin. Meet me here tomorrow at 8 and we'll begin our training." She grumbled before leaving using her shunshin.
"What's her problem?" Shikamaru asked as he fell onto his butt and relaxed.
"She thinks that the Hokage and the council have put me on her team because they don't trust her abilities to keep a team of gennin safe on a mission." Naruto answered, getting surprised looks from his teammates and an agreeing nod from Anko.
"And when you put that on top of a career where she has been underestimated and looked down on almost every day, it's not really surprising she's upset." She added.
"But that's ridiculous, why would anyone look down on someone because they are a woman or they specialise in genjutsu?" Hinata asked.
"The same reason they would do it to someone who was seen as too gentle or the container to a monster or any other difference, they're fools who don't know to look past the surface to see someone's true value." Naruto replied as he pulled her into a warm embrace, the anger and frustration in his tone was plain for everyone to see and it left Shikamaru and Anko both with a lot to think about.
"Come on Hina-chan, let's go see if Aya-chan has had her lunch break yet. See you tomorrow Shika. Anko-chan, it's been interesting as always." The blonde declared as he walked off with his arm wrapped around his girl.
Shikamaru said nothing as he walked off, leaving Anko by herself as she looked down and saw that the boy had apparently forgotten to reclaim his staff. "Probably looking for an excuse to come see me later." Anko declared with a smirk as she struck a pose with the pole. She almost squealed in shock as her purloined weapon suddenly became enshrouded in a puff of smoke. When it cleared, Anko found herself holding a familiar blonde teen rather than his staff. "Naru-kun?" she asked, wondering how he did that.
"Not quite. I'm a kage bunshin. The boss kawarimied me with the staff after you dropped it." He replied with a wide grin.
"Then why did you wait so long to reveal yourself?" she asked.
The clone's grin spread even further. "We like having beautiful ladies holding our staff. And you've gotta admit, you looked pretty hot with our pole in your hands." He replied with a chuckle before dispelling in a plume of smoke.
"Cheeky bastard...damn it if he ain't cute though." She exclaimed before using her own shunshin to leave the area.
Chapter End
Kagemane no jutsu = Shadow Imitation Technique
Seneijashu = Hidden Shadow Snake Hand
A/N: Sorry that it's so short, but this was hard to write and I felt that was a fairly reasonable place to stop. Next chapter, assuming I ever get around to writing it, will be almost entirely fluff and might include TWO lemons. Till then, let me know what you think.
