Chapter 14
ASUMA SARUTOBI
This was not the first time that he had become a teacher. He had taught a few genin teams before, but never had the circumstances and the personnel of the team been so unique.
He had thought that his father would hand him a simple team. The Akimichi, Nara, and the Yamanaka clans had a history of working together, and with the descendants of the three clans all studying in the same year, many had thought it to be a given that the three of them would be put on a team together.
Perhaps that was why he had chosen not to do that at all. He got the Nara heir and the Yamanaka heiress, but the Akimichi boy had been assigned to a different team, and he was given Hikari Hyuga.
"So, you have Akimichi on your team?" and they sat in a private room in the Yakiniku Q, as they celebrated her first stint as a jounin sensei.
"Yes," Kurenai answered, her red eyes looking into his own, and if anyone else saw them here, it could cause quite a ruckus, and that was why he had asked for a private room.
"Who else?" he asked as he slid a piece of meat into his mouth.
"The other two are Inuzuka Kiba and a civilian girl by the name of Sakura Haruno," and that was another unbalanced but inspired combination.
"Not the Hyuga girl?" he asked, and with her having a history with teaching the Hyuga heiress, he would have thought that she would have been assigned to you.
"No," she shook her head, clearly dejected by his father's choices, but who were they to question him?
"She has been assigned to none other than Kakashi Hatake," and he winced at the name, for Kakashi had been a teacher as long as Asuma himself, yet had yet to pass a single team to this day.
"Will she be fine?" he asked, and Kurenai was clearly worried about her former student as she answered with some hesitation.
"I think so. She has improved greatly within the last year, but we both know few can understand what goes on in Kakashi's mind," and she took a sip of the sake, as Asuma nodded.
"That is true," and now they could only pray for that trio, that they would be able to break Kakashi's curse.
"You have Hinata's cousin on your team, don't you?" and he was not just her cousin, that boy was trouble, and more than that, he was their ringer for the year.
"Anything you can tell me about him?" For all Asuma knew about him was from his official reports, and she seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before she answered.
"Hinata looked up to him quite a bit," and that was interesting.
"He gave her advice about chakra control, fighting techniques and tactics, and other matters related to shinobi arts, without ever having a formal lesson or a teacher for himself," and that reflected in his report, for even when he had been inducted into the ANBU, the boy was noted to have very solid basics.
His chakra control, his control over his two affinities, and his physical prowess. None of it was flashy, yet it all showed a deep respect for the basics, which the boy had mastered to the extent that they were second nature.
It was this exact thing that had allowed him to progress as quickly as he had and to do all this without any formal training or a teacher.
"So, he truly is like him," Asuma groaned, with some frustration, and he had no need to utter his name, as Kurenai's lips thinned.
"Yes, he is," and that person was Itachi Uchiha, the clan killer.
"I don't know what father was thinking with the team arrangements this year," and he was done eating and was about to light up his smoke, yet as he saw that disapproving glare, he quickly put down the lighter and rubbed his head.
"Sorry," he apologised, remembering that Kurenai was not fond of his smoking.
"It's because of that traitor from the academy," she answered, and he thought so as well, though Asuma had never truly understood his father and his mind, and by now he had somewhat given up on that.
To the entire village, the old man was a hero. Their silent guardian, whose mere presence brought them reassurance and safety, yet to Asuma, he would remain the absent father who had no time for his son.
He understood his reasons, for he was the Hokage and had his burdens, yet he never understood the 'Will of Fire', and the 'King' he spoke of. He had tried to search for an answer, had gone to the capital in that search to serve under the daimyo to see if he was the 'King' his father valued so much, but in the end, he was no King.
"He wants to mix things up to diversify the skills of the genin to lessen the advantage of our enemies," and it was reasonable to think that Mizuki had leaked intelligence about all their genin to the enemy nations, and with the Chunin exams set to happen in six months, they did not have to rebuild the skill set of their genin from the ground up.
So, he had chosen to change the team patterns. Hoping that it would bring enough change in them, so that they could gain new skills and powers at that time.
"I still cannot believe we let a traitor get so near the kids," and it was a big failure, and had caused quite a stir within the Intel division.
"Still, I don't know how well this might work," he whispered, as he remembered the team dynamics from earlier and how Shikaku's son was eyeing the newcomer with barely hidden interest, while the Yamanaka heiress rejected him out of the gate.
"My team's already a mess," he whispered, and he had hoped for a simple three-man cell, as Kurenai chuckled.
"You will figure it out, after all, you are quite experienced," she spoke with full confidence, and he looked into her eyes.
"If you say so, my dear," and already he had a plan in mind for their first test, to test their limits.
"Still, we will need to work extra hard this year. If you need any pointers about being a sensei, I will be happy to help," he offered, and she raised a brow.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, after all, a pretty girl just mentioned that I have quite the experience in being a mentor," and she shook her head at his antics.
"Sure..."
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HIKARI HYUGA
They were different.
The teams. He had looked into the team arrangements and had found them to be different, and while he had expected his presence to bring some changes, the suddenness of them surprised him.
But in the grand scheme of things, it did not really matter. Choji had been assigned to Kurenai Yuhi, yet the greatest surprise had come with Hinata, for her cousin had been put on a team with Naruto and Sasuke under the guiding eye of Kakashi Hatake.
He wondered if this was due to his mere presence or the death and demise of Mizuki, but nonetheless, his presence had begun to change things, and not all people were embracing this change with joy.
He had heard about the Yamanaka heiress from Hinata, and the girl was titled as a young master from a xianxia novel, and she thought herself to be a Princess. Her frustrations with him were rather obvious, and she did little to hide them, thinking that her words or actions would irritate him.
She couldn't be more wrong.
"I am sorry about her," Shikamaru's lazy voice came from the side, as the Nara clan heir eyed him from behind, as he gave Yamanaka a smile.
"Don't worry," he said, for in comparison to what he had endured back at the Hyuga clan, she was nothing.
"I understand the reason for her anger," and he did, for she had lost both her beloved Sasuke-kun and then one of her oldest friends, and was given him instead.
A stranger with a pale face and even paler eyes.
"Thanks," he whispered as she gave the Nara boy a look of pure disapproval.
"Still, do you have any idea about this test of ours?" he asked, and the Nara boy shrugged.
"I don't know, but I am getting rather tired of all the tests," and he looked up at the sky and shook his head.
"It's such great weather for a nap," and indeed it was, for the temperature was just perfect with the perfect balance of Sun and wind.
"Have you looked into our sensei?" he asked, and the boy turned towards the blonde girl.
"Asuma Sarutobi," the girl began with a huff.
"He is the son of the Sandaime-sama and is one of the twelve ninja guardians, an elite unit that is tasked with guarding the Daimyo," and there was the daughter of the Intelligence division, and in the Ninja word few shinobi and clans payed any heed to the importance of recon and information even though in his own mind that was half the battle.
If one had the right information, they could break any technique, destroy any formation, and most importantly, kill any shinobi they so desired.
And in Konoha, the Yamanaka clan was the King of information, and they worked closely with the Nara and the Akimichi clan, using that information to move mountains. It was this coordination and symbiosis that allowed these three rather mundane and less powerful clans to go toe-to-toe against the mighty Uchiha and the Senju clans during the Warring States period.
"From his file, he is a close-ranged specialist, with a stellar mission record," and that was rather detailed.
"My own father mentioned that he was a very skilled shinobi," the Nara clan heir added, as he turned towards him, perhaps expecting him to add his own two cents, but he did not have much to offer.
"We will need to come up...."
"You are going to make me blush with all that praise," and a chill ran down his spine, and Hikari was beginning to loathe his absence of sensing abilities, and all three of them jumped back at once as they saw the Sarutobi jounin standing there behind them all with a cigarette in his mouth.
"How long?" Ino questioned.
"Just long enough to hear your report about me," he answered with a smile, and he saw some semblance of joy in his eyes as he spoke of that, as Shikamaru shook his head.
"What a drag," Shikamaru whispered as his eyes narrowed as the man began.
"Gathering information about your enemy beforehand is a good habit," he praised Ino, as he lit his cigarette, and his smile vanished.
"But only if you can put it to good use," and then he stepped forward.
"So, now are you ready for your final test?" he asked, and Ino was the first to react.
"Yes, bring it," and he himself slowly reached for the tanto at his back, as the man smiled.
"Good, so for the test, you three will have to face me," and that seemed simple enough.
"Or more accurately, for the next three hours, I will try to kill the three of you, and you three just need to survive for those three hours," and three hours against any regular jounin would have been fairly easy, but Asuma Sarutobi was not a regular jounin.
"But since there are three of you, and only one of me. I have to give you guys a little handicap," and with that, he suddenly appeared in front of Shikamaru in the blink of an eye, and grabbed his face.
"What are you doing..." Ino screamed, but he did not listen to her as he put a sealing tag on his mouth and jumped back before his blade could touch him.
"What the hell!" Ino screamed as Shikamaru tried to claw away at the tag on his mouth, yet it refused to budge.
"For the duration of the exam, you cannot utter a single word," and his intentions behind it were clear to him, for he had seen the antagonism between him and Ino and knew that Shikamaru could intervene between them, and now he planned on exploiting it.
A rather devious move.
"I am going to kick your ass all on my own," Ino lashed out as she took out her kunai and got ready for battle, as the man picked up a pebble from the ground.
"Then let us begin," and he tossed it into the air, his intention clear, yet Ino was in no mood for waiting as she sprang forward even before the stone hit the ground, and she charged forward.
"Shit," he saw Shikamaru's eyes widen in fear, as he tried to make hand signs, but he was not going to make it in time, for their jounin sensei had vanished, and he appeared right in front of a surprised Ino, as he punched her in the gut, making her spill blood.
"AGHHH!" she coughed out blood, but he was not quite done yet as he aimed a kick at her face, yet before his foot could connect with her face, he was there as he blocked it with an elbow.
"GUGH!" and despite chakra coating his skin and bones, he was still pushed to the side as he struck Ino, yet he let the momentum carry him as he spun around and carried her away with him, as she coughed in his arms.
"You are fast, but not fast enough..." and he was going to come after them again, yet suddenly he stopped moving as he saw a shadow connecting the man's shadow and Shikamaru's as the Nara clan heir gave him a nod.
And they both reached for the smoke bombs in their pockets and threw them on the floor as they vanished into the forest.
"Let me gooo!...."
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