CHAPTER 8: INADEQUENCIES
HINATA HYUGA
Hinata entered the room and found her teammate lying there. The rising of his chest even. There were bandages on his arms on hands. The burn marks were quite severe, and whatever had caused them had caused the skin to glove off. One had to be careful in treating them, she had cleaned the wounds thoroughly, bandaging them afterward.
The Sun had set a long time ago, the darkness of the night had crept in and the room was illuminated by a lamp. She moved through the room quietly and went to sit in the chair on the side. She looked at her teammate and felt conflicted due to her emotions.
Amazement. Envy. Appreciation. Bewilderment. All of these emotions were mangled together at the moment. The plan by sensei had been simple. She would help evacuate Team seven and the bridge builder. Sensei had proposed for all of them to retreat as well, but Shinso-Kun had asked for permission to engage their opponent, in this way sensei could assist Kakashi sensei. It was a risky move, going against an opponent of such skill. Sensei had accepted and it was decided that Shinso and Shino Kun would engage the ninja from the Yuki clan.
She had known Shinso Kun was brilliant. But he had blown her expectations away. Not only her even sensei had been shocked by the display. She had observed the battle with her byakugan. He was fast and resourceful and his techniques though simple at first were very unique. And as much as she had observed, none of them were academy-taught, making it highly probable that he had invented them herself. This spoke of brilliance. Brilliance is seen in prodigies.
Prodigies. The boogeymen of the world. Shinobi with enough potential to shift the balance of power within the villages singlehandedly. She had thought her cousin would be the best of their generation. An unprecedented genius of the taijutsu, ruthless and prodigious in the attacks. Infallible on the defense. Yet here was another rising star, defying all expectations. Challenging the dominance of the genius of her clan, as a no-name orphan.
She looked at him once more and his breathing was still even, his chakra was still recovering, from its depleted levels. According to Kakashi sensei, he would wake up soon. She looked out the window and could see several fires set up. Most of the town was celebrating its liberation from Gato. People were dancing, and despite the scarce resources, there was hope in the people.
She clenched her fist. Failure. Disappointment. Useless. She was lost in those thoughts when she heard someone grunt. She looked at the bed again and could see Shinso kun trying to get up.
"Don't, try to get up on your own Shinso Kun, If you want I can help you." He turned towards her, startled. His injured hand hit the floor.
"Ahh!" he hissed in pain. She went up to help him sit up. He muttered a thank you. And started looking around.
"We are in Tsunami san's house. She is the daughter of the bridge builder. They were nice enough to host us. She informed him. He nodded his head and looked at his bandaged hand.
"They were severely burned. I cleaned the wound and bandaged them. According to sensei, you will recover in ten days. No permanent damage."
She heard a sigh of relief from him as he turned towards her,
"Thank you," he said once more.
She just smiled and nodded. Then she told him,
"Everyone else is with the villagers outside celebrating. I will bring you something light to eat. So, wait for a bit," And she moved out of the room fulfilling the purpose of her visit.
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KURENAI YUHI
As she gazed at the celebrating villagers in front, her thoughts were stuck on the earlier battle. More specifically, they were stuck on her student. Shinso Ken. The kid had been one mystery after another. She was aware that he was special, yet he had continuously gone above and beyond her imagination. The Yuki clan kid was a chunin at least. Yet he had not only kept him at bay, alone. He had outclassed him completely.
"You shouldn't have such a look at a celebration. It's bad luck," Kakashi said from behind her. He sat down next to her and handed her a plate containing a small portion of the food. She took it, her thoughts still stuck.
"Were you aware of this? Such advanced shape manipulation. Lightning nature manipulation. Even during war times, graduates aren't so refined, more so in times of peace." Kurenai said.
"Well, regular graduates aren't that refined. I can name a couple of people who were more skilled than him at this point." Kakashi said as he bit into a piece of chicken. And he was right. Kakashi had graduated at six, made chunin at nine, and jounin at thirteen. Even during wartime, it had set a record until it was broken by Itachi Uchiha.
"But most of them had a clan to rely on or were children of very elite shinobi. He is an orphan." She argued. She had the feeling that Kakashi was more knowledgeable about the issue. And in the case of shinobi, your gut was mostly right.
"Hmmm, you are right." He replied. She continued staring at him and then he finally sighed.
"Ok, can you stop staring at me like that? For God's sake, it's a time for celebration. Just chill and relax." He said to her but she did not budge. Her eyes still boring into his side.
He tried to ignore her, but finally sighed and put down the stick.
"Aha. Ok. I looked into his file and went through it with a fine comb. Lord Third's orders." He said just as she was about to complain. Snooping into her student without her consent and knowledge was a bit unnerving to her.
"According to the matron of the orphanage, he was always the quiet and polite kid, yet she mentions that he has always been quite observant. When he found out that she was a retired shinobi, he asked her for stories, which later morphed into guidance and advice." He said giving her a lot more information than was mentioned in the report.
"Don't bother talking to her again. She likes the kid very much and would spend praising him. She probably treats him more like a son. According to her, she has never seen someone work as hard and consistently as him. She was quite glad that his request to join the barrier corps was denied." Kakashi finished and this made a lot more sense. The boy did not belong to a clan but his progress had been guided by an experienced shinobi. But, she had a question.
"Why did Lord Hokage reject his request? After Itachi was not there some change in policy regarding the handling of such cases?" she asked the question that had been in the back of her mind since day one.
AT this Kakashi stiffened, probably at remembering the clan killer who had once been on his team. A genius under the tutelage of another genius. According to Yugao, there was a lot of hype regarding both of them. He was quiet for a long time before he spoke.
"Yes, there was a new policy but, the village received some concerning news. According to the latest information Iwa, Kumo and Suna are all arming up." These words made startled her. She spoke,
"But, we are - -" She was cut off, as Kakashi continued.
"Still recovering from the Nine tail's attack and the Uchiha massacre. As much as Konoha can project a strong image. It takes time to recover from one such disaster, more so from two. And we don't have that much time, So Lord Hokage chose to make a show at the incoming chunin exams. I think the orders will be given soon, all teams will register and make a showing at the exam."
"To warn the other villages. To make a statement, that Konoha is strong." She finished his words. This was all news to her. The chunin exams were in six months. If she had to register her team, she had to kick their training up a notch. Initially, she planned to wait for a year, but with this new information. There was no time to waste.
"Now, that I think about it where is your team? I haven't seen them since the debrief?" She asked her colleague. At this, she heard him giggle,
"Oh, I have to thank your team for that. It seems their showing lit a new fore among them. So, I just left them to master tree walking. They are prohibited from eating anything before completing their training." He finished in a sing-song voice.
She just shook her head at his antics. They must be quite hungry, and to train with an empty belly was simply hell. She knew that from experience.
"And Shino," she questioned about her student.
"He is also there, to keep an eye on them. But don't worry, I had food delivered to him," he eased her worries. She was not cruel like him and honestly. She was quite satisfied with her team's performance.
She looked down at the food on the plate and picked up some chicken, taking a bite out of it. It was quite bland compared to the food at Akimichi restaurants, but looking at the people eating in front of her, it was more than just food. It was hope. Hope for the new tomorrow.
Both of them sat there for some time before she could hear someone rushing toward them. She looked back and saw the silhouette of her only feminine student approaching them both.
Hinata landed softly on the ground, ending her stride,
"Kurenai sensei, Shinso kun is awake." She told her the good news and Kurenai relaxed. This was good news, though his injuries were not life-threatening. There was a risk of severe chakra exhaustion because of the way he had blacked out. But, if he was awake now it meant that his reserves had not gone down to extremely low levels.
Both of them got up and started making their way toward the bridgebuilder's house.
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KAKASHI HATAKE
Kakashi observed from the side as Kurenai fussed over her student. It was nice seeing such a side of her. The boy in question was sitting and happily eating the meal in front of him.
"Shinso, I have heard the details of the battle from both Shino and Hinata. I was highly impressed by your performance and leadership." Kurenai said yet he could detect a but.
"But, I have a question?" the boy in question stiffened at that. While it is common sense to not probe into the techniques of another shinobi. The rules were a little different for a sensei. They could ask about them, though most did not have to. Because most of the techniques their students learned either came from them or their clan or family members.
"Most of the techniques you performed were new. So, why haven't you used them in any of our spars?" a bit of authority oozed into her voice. The boy was a bit miffed at the question. He could see the gears turning in his head.
"Ummm sensei, most of them are new but initially, I could not perform them, as most of them are not perfected yet." At this, he pointed to the sword at his side and Kakashi also observed the blade in question. By, its appearance it was quite simple, except for the purplish hue and the thick scabbard. He picked up the blade and looked at the boy, asking for permission, not that he needed it.
The boy nodded his head and Kakashi pulled the blade out. A similar purplish hue was present on the edge of the blade. Yet, there was something special about the scabbard. It was heavier, way heavier than it should be. It was made out of the chakra conductive method. Ah, he finally understood the essence of the boy's technique. It was simple and ingenious.
"Basic chakra repulsion. Impressive . . . " Kakashi said and the boy nodded his head.
"And the technique, that caused your injuries. You should not use such a technique without caution." Kurenai said she had probably noticed as well that the boy was not comfortable with this conversation. So, she gave him a way out. It was nice of her.
He placed the blade back in the scabbard and put it back beside the boy.
"As, for the mission, the bridge will be completed in three days. We will leave for the village as soon as it is finished. For that duration, you are off duty. You should rest and recuperate. The rest of us will take turns guarding it." Kurenai ordered the boy. The boy nodded his head.
"Ok, then we will leave. You should finish eating and go to rest. Your wounds need rest to heal,"
As Kakashi moved out of the room, he thought about his team. Team seven had been problematic. Both Sasuke and Sakura had a superiority complex due to their position in the class. And Naruto lacked even the basics. This mission had been a wake-up call for them. But seeing one of their classmates excel against an opponent they had failed against helped them understand their position in the world. They were still out there training deep into the night and he had yet to hear a single complaint.
Perhaps they could be taught. There may still be hope for them.
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This is it. Wave is getting completed. The story slows down for some time as I show some differences from canon and then we move into the action-packed Chunin exam arc.
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