Getting Acquainted
Naruto and his new teammates were at Training Ground Seven, they were celebrating. They had just succeeded in the skills assessment test, their Jonin-sensei, Kurenai Yūhi, had put them through, to make sure they were ready to be Genin and could work as a team. Still, Naruto was taken by surprise, by how difficult the test had been. They had basically, played a real-world version of hide-and-seek, with their sensei being, It, they had to find her using any means at their disposal, they had until noon to capture her or they would be sent back to the Academy. Kurenai used any means at her disposal, to stay out of their reach, and out of captivity. It did not take very long for them to realize they were outclassed against the Jonin, while alone, so they decided to work together and trap their sensei.
Naruto used his explosives to drive their Jonin into a designated space, where Sakura and Hinata teamed up to contain her, until the third member could arrive. Naruto had used a lot of Flash Clones to plant the explosives, because they themselves could be explosives as Kurenai found out, all her shinobi had to do to make them explode, was cancel the Wind chakra, and they became unstable. They could even direct the force of the explosion, along any path, Kurenai knew she was being… herded, so to speak. She knew, but could do nothing about it, unless she wanted to meet the business end of a concussive blast, she had to allow herself to be maneuvered. I'm far from caught, just because my movements can be controlled, doesn't make me controllable.
It was only when she reached the foot of a cliff and found herself boxed in by her new students, and a slew of Senko Bunshin, that she realized what their plan was. Hinata was on Kurenai's right, Sakura was on the left, and depending on where he truly was, Naruto was all around her. She looked up, thinking to go up the cliff-face but saw a batch of Narutos, peering down at her from the top of the fifty-three-foot ridge. She turned to face her students, if there was one thing Kurenai was not was a coward. They had to capture her to succeed, well succeed in the task, their use of teamwork to catch her meant they were ready to be Genin, but she was too excited to give-up now, without a real fight. Her new Genin Team closed in on the Jonin kunoichi, who was backing up even as they approached her, until she stood with her back to the cliff.
Secure in the knowledge that her back was covered, and that they could not come at her from behind, she set herself to fight them. She should have known better, than to underestimate her best-friend's cute nephew. He is a ninjutsu prodigy for a reason and one of his nature affinities was Earth. The two kunoichi approaching her just stopped and began to grin maliciously, she felt someone blow gently on her ear, which just happened to be one of her erogenous points. This caused her to jerk away from the feeling, when she felt the point of a kunai pricking at the side of her neck. She slowly slid her gaze to look in that direction, and smiling at her with a smug expression, was one of her precious people, even before he became her student. Naruto's upper-torso was sticking out of the cliff-face at about the same elevation as Kurenai's head, the rest of him seemed to be merged into the essence of the ridge itself, he was essentially an appendage of the mountain.
"Do you give-up, Kurenai-sensei," he asked with a challenge in his eyes?
Schooling her features to cover her surprise, she nodded stoically, "you have captured me, fair and square, good use of teamwork, which was all I really wanted to see for you to pass."
Naruto's grin became triumphant, as he seemed to slither down the side of the rock, until he was even with his natural height and stepped out of the mountain. Naruto dropped his balaclava, letting his buzzed blonde-hair breathe. Kurenai indicated for them to take a seat on the ground, "that was excellent teamwork and use of strategy, I would never have expected an attack from the cliff itself. At this time, I know you all know each other from the Academy, but I feel formal introductions are still in order."
"Will you please go first, sensei," Sakura asked, "so we can have an example of what you want?"
Kurenai smiled, "Of course," she assented, "my name is Kurenai Yūhi, age 27, I have just recently been promoted to Jonin, try to be gentle with me," she quipped, to their chuckles, "I like genjutsu, my friends… and," she looked resolutely ahead, casting a careful gaze at the shinobi among them, he did not seem to notice, but the other ladies narrowed their eyes, "someone else. I dislike perverts, those who see kunoichi as whores, and arrogance. My goal is to become the foremost genjutsu master in the world, to change public perception of kunoichi, and become a wife and mother, someday."
Kurenai pointed to Sakura, who smiled, "My name is Sakura, age 12, I like Anko-sensei, Naruto-kun, he's become a great friend, and taijutsu," her smile widened to a leer, and cast her eyes to all three of them, "you can be as rough with me as you wish." This caused Naruto and surprisingly, Kurenai to blush, "you two get your minds out of the gutter," Sakura lightly admonished them, before getting serious again, "my dislikes are men with fragile egos, the Harunos, and the way Naruto-kun is treated because of something beyond his control. My short-term goals include, becoming a taijutsu-bukijutsu (hand-to-hand & weapon) master, supplemented with a little ninjutsu, and to become a medical ninja. As for the long-term; they're pretty much the same as your last two goals, Kurenai-sensei."
Naruto grinned, "I can see living with Anko-oba-san has been a positive influence on your sense of humor, Sakura-chan." Sakura just laughed, but Naruto took his turn to introduce himself, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, age 13, I like Yugao-oba-san, Kiba, and all of my other friends," he said, looking at all three kunoichi to include, all three of them among that last one, "I cleared what I'm about to say yesterday with Lady Hokage, and two of you already know, but I dislike anybody who hates me for housing the Kyūbi no Kitsune, blaming me for the actions of another," he said in a rush, when Hinata did not gasp or otherwise show surprise at what he said, but whose expression remained the same. It was the other members of the team who acted with surprise.
The Hyūga heiress grinned, like a child caught doing something bad, her expression was pensive, as she toyed with her gloved hands, "I've known since he came to our class, he was interesting and cute, and well I had just perfected the use of the Byakugan, so I viewed him," she stated with a blush, pushing her forefingers together. The other kunoichi were staring daggers at her, for daring to look at their Naru… friend and student, like a piece of meat, "in the area of the body I was most interested in, I saw a massive amount of chakra, isolated from the rest of his chakra. I didn't know what it was, I still didn't until you told me, just now. I just knew that it was separate from you, and not a part of you," she looked up at the boy, "you were you; the chakra wasn't you, but now that you've told me, I feel loads better. The Nine-tails, you say," and Naruto was astonished, that she did not care that he was the container of the Fox?
Tears welled up in his eyes, but he aggressively dashed them away, and looked at her, "Thank you, Hinata-chan, for being so understanding."
He found Kurenai's hand massaging his thigh in comfort, and she said gently, "go on with your introduction, Naruto-kun."
Naruto just nodded, "my goals for my career, are to perfect my Bloodlines, become a chakra master in ninjutsu and genjutsu, a kenjutsu master, and a fuinjutsu master, like my mother and all other Uzumaki, even greater than the Fourth Hokage. My personal goals…" he said raising a finger, which brought the three kunoichi closer, "are a secret!" The three kunoichi face-fell to the earth, he smirked at them as they sat back up and gave him ugly expressions.
Kurenai pointed to the Hyūga to finish introductions, "My name is Hinata Hyūga, age 12, I like taijutsu, and I'm interested in learning sensory-genjutsu, I dislike my clan's attitude toward others, like get over it, we have funny eyes, big deal. I wish to abolish the caged-bird seal, and the Elder Hyūga advisors. My goals are as stated previously, and to become clan-chief, a mother and a wife, in no particular order."
Kurenai remained seated on the ground, and smiled, "This is our first day as a team, I know its traditional for me to allow you to go home to rest, after completing the Genin Skills Test, but I'm still too full of energy. There is one thing I want to do before we head toward home," she pulled four slips of paper out of the bodice of her dress, and continued, "these are chakra-paper. They're made from trees that were grown on pure chakra alone, they will tell me what kind of Nature Affinities you all possess." She passed the paper around to her students, "now, channel your chakra through the paper, I know that some of you have done this before, but do it anyway, please." Kurenai demonstrated as she spoke, channeling her chakra into the paper, which caught fire and became soggy, then to everyone but Kurenai's surprise formed into a vapor, "this indicates that I have an affinity for fire and water, and the kekkei genkai, boil release. That's a secret between the team, and only a few others know about it besides you, including your Aunt, Naruto, your sensei, Sakura, and of course the Hokage. I use it to aid my genjutsu in effectiveness, and as a poisoned mist. I'll demonstrate that later, now Naruto, please channel into the chakra paper."
Naruto complied, already knowing what it would indicate, he got the expected three primaries: the paper split in half, with one-side crumpling, and the other side crumbling into dirt; he got the three secondaries: a ball of plasma, then a magnetic-field, which then exploded; and a tertiary reaction happened: the paper began to emit a blinding white light. Naruto raised an eyebrow and spoke, "that last one is new, but not unexpected."
"What do they all mean, Naruto-kun," the Hyūga wondered, "that last one was beautiful."
"Well, the first three, were from my primary elemental affinities: Wind, Lightning, and Earth; then my secondary affinities: Plasma, Magnet, and Explosion release; the last one, is an S-ranked secret, but I will tell you in order to build trust, Hinata-chan, plus Kurenai-sensei, and Sakura-chan, already know. I have a kekkei tota: I discovered it over a month ago," he closed his eyes, sending Light chakra to his eyes, he opened them, and staring back at Hinata was Naruto's Kidogan, "I've named it Light release, or Kidoton." Naruto spent the next few minutes, explaining some of what he had learned over a month ago, with the Sandaime, and Yugao Uzumaki, keeping the parts concerning the Byakugan and the Sharingan to himself, but he did explain the Kidogan, and what he could do, with or without it. "So, while I do have telescopic and microscopic vision, unlike Hinata-chan's Byakugan, I do not have omni-vision."
"Wow," Hinata whispered, "you really are humble, Naruto-kun. You're Kidogan, can do so much more than the Byakugan, really the omni-vision is not a great loss, with your Flash Clones, you could have them deploy the Kidogan, then when they dispel you get the sensory data they acquired."
Kurenai got them back in order, "you're next, Hinata-chan," indicating the paper in the Genin's hand, "channel chakra into the paper, please."
Hinata did that, and the paper promptly crumpled, before bursting into flame, but the ashes promptly began to vibrate, and a high-pitched squeal like a microphone being too close to the speaker. Naruto promptly stubbed out the paper which immediately quieted the noise. Naruto looked at her, "no way," to say he was astonished was a profound understatement.
"What was that," Sakura asked in nervousness, which sounded like a little girl's voice, Sakura-chan is so cute?
"I'm only guessing here, but I'd say, that not only does, Hinata-chan have two chakra nature affinities, Fire and Lightning," Naruto opened, then looking at Kurenai for permission to continue, who nodded, "but I'd say our teammate here has her own kekkei genkai, it appears to be Vibrational Energy, which only makes her the most in tune organism in the world."
"What do you mean, Naruto-kun," Hinata asked, sounding a little scared?
"I'll be brief, I want to allow Sakura-chan her turn at the paper, then we need to go speak to the Hokage," they all nodded for him to continue. "Everything that exists has some form of vibrational frequency, this is because the molecules in these substances oscillate, each oscillation is unique to each substance, Hell light photons do it. Sound, when it propagates is described by this oscillation as frequency, which is how speech works, the applications of this development are staggering."
"Like what, Naruto-kun," Sakura asked?
"Well as I said, everything has a frequency, and if you can disrupt or otherwise control said frequencies, you can disrupt the molecular cohesion of any object, regardless of strength and durability," Naruto answered, "you could break apart hydrogen and oxygen molecules, which by themselves are unstable. Hell, the simplest applications are sound wave control, rendering your steps completely silent, or reverse it and you could produce or alter any sound you make. I don't think there are any limits," Naruto smiled encouragingly, "you'd be awesome, Hinata-chan. Well as awesome as you already are, you'd be even more awesome. Believe it!"
Hinata blushed and demurred, "why, thank you, Naruto-kun."
Sakura just picked up her paper and channeled her chakra into it; the paper grew soggy, then crumpled, but then coherent beams of light shot out in all directions, those that hit them stung like a bee-sting. "What the Hell are we, the Bloodline Squad," Naruto griped?
"Whoa," Kurenai stated, sitting three feet away from the rosette, "those laser bolts pack quite a pinch, and I imagine they could punch a hole through steel with enough practice!"
"What do you think that was," Sakura asked, looking at Naruto, who shrugged?
"I think it's time, we go see the Hokage," Kurenai told them, and they all just nodded. They stood and immediately began jumping through the trees, heading for their military and spiritual leader's residence. "By the way, Naruto-kun," Kurenai said disarmingly, then leaked her KI, but her voice became seductive, "the next time you blow on my ear, I'm gonna make you finish what you started," he looked at her in confusion, so she elaborated, "you're an adult now, so I'm just going to say it…" she blushed a red as deep as her namesake. "Blowing on my ear is the quickest way to get me to jump your bones," she said quickly. This caused him, and the other two kunoichi to match Kurenai's redness.
"Wait a minute," Naruto said, as he remembered something his aunt once told him about kunoichi! "I've lived with Yugao-oba-san long enough to know that while most women, would be coy about something like that, kunoichi, because they lie and deceive for a living, take a different approach to courtship. When they like a man romantically, they don't beat around the bush, and the bolder they are the more they like said man. The way you said that means…"
Kurenai smiled, "that I like you, and given the way they're looking at us, I'd say I'm not the only kunoichi on the Blood Squad who would like to have you between her legs." Naruto looked at the other two kunoichi and saw them look back, just as seductively, oh no…
Blood Squad: Confirmed
Tsunade was sitting back in her chair, with her eyes closed, massaging the bridge of her nose. Before her stood her newest headache, the latest incarnation of Team Seven. The sudden discovery of three bloodlines, would normally be seen as a boon to the Hokage, but when one of those who discovered their new kekkei genkai happened to be from one of the most temperamental and arrogant clans in Konoha. Who already have a kekkei genkai dojutsu, the discovery that their heiress has discovered another bloodline limit, will throw a monkey wrench in her efforts to curtail that clan's entitled culture. She knew what she had to do when she raised her head, "Tori-san," she called, and an ANBU with a bird mask appeared in front of Tsunade, kneeling.
"Hai, Hokage-sama," Bird asked, her long, black ponytail resting on her back, the armor of the ANBU doing nothing to hide her voluptuous, female form?
"Please, go ask the clan-chief of the Hyūga to come to my office," Tsunade ordered.
"Hai, Hokage-sama," the woman turned, and briefly they saw a pair of pure white-eyes, staring through the eyes of the bird mask at Hinata, who merely looked back impassively. There was a slight hint of an upturned, proud smile on her lips, before she shun-shinned away.
Tsunade keyed her intercom, "Natsume-san, will you please convene the Elders in my office, as quickly as possible, we have much to discuss."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," was the reply.
Then she turned to Sakura, "I may know what your bloodline is, Sakura-san. I once attended the Chunin Exams in Kumogakure, it was a show of goodwill, to let Raikage know, there were no more hard feelings for his actions from Konoha, at least, officially. During the Exam Finals, there was a boy, who demonstrated jutsu like you described from the chakra paper, they called it, Arashi no jutsu, or Storm Art, in common language. Luckily for the both of you," she indicated the two, Genin kunoichi, "you have a teammate on your team that is nearly a master of lightning chakra," the blonde woman stated pointing to Naruto, who smirked while looking at Sakura and Hinata.
When they looked at Naruto, he spoke, "I'll get you both started, at least with the exercises that helped me, but everybody is different when it comes to what they can learn. I'll let you two, create your own jutsu, like I have," he stated firmly. Naruto looked between the two, Genin kunoichi, looking back at him, who both nodded.
There was a knock on the door, "Come in," said the Hokage!
The door opened, and in walked another man, a Hyūga, this one had a tad more aristocratic bearing than most, he looked much like all of his clan, but wore very traditional, loose-fitting robes, and a brown haori with the Hyūga crest in the middle of the back. Hiashi Hyūga looked upon his daughter with emotionless eyes, but that was just a façade, for truly his daughters, were the light of his life: both were strong, Hinata had become the strongest fighter in the Hyūga, eclipsing even his nephew's strength. Who was considered the strongest Jūken fighter in the clan, and with her Jūhou-style, was able to defeat him. He was immensely proud that she had become, Rookie-of-the-Year for her class. He, along with every other graduate of the Academy, knew that the rankings there, were inconsequential, once they left school, but at the very least, with Neji of the Branch Family being Rookie-of-the-Year for his class, and Hinata being the same, it showed just how strong the Hyūga clan truly was.
"Did you call for me, Hokage-sama," the father asked his superior, and bowed formally?
Tsunade rose from her chair, stepping around her desk and returned his bow, with one just as deep. "I have, Hyūga-dono," she smiled, then indicated Hinata and the rest of her team, "it seems Konoha, has acquired two more kekkei genkai. You know, as we all do of Naruto Uzumaki and the three bloodlines, he has displayed for us," Hiashi nodded at that, "well, it seems his teammates have their own Bloodlines. Sakura-san has gotten the Kumo's coveted Storm release, I may open Konoha up to them again just to rub their noses in that fact." Hiashi and Tori's eyes narrowed at that thought, "but it's just a thought, it seems the Hyūga are evolving as well, because Hinata, in addition to the Byakugan, also has an elemental kekkei genkai."
"What," Hiashi asked, in shock?
"They did a nature affinity test today, and Hinata, it seems has two primary nature transformations: Fire and Lightning," that surprised Hiashi who looked at his daughter. She remained stoic on the surface, but she could feel his warmth for her, there was never a doubt in her mind that her parents loved her, and she returned it, but Hyūga were very private when displaying emotions, they only did it with their closest loved ones. Hinata may not follow all of the Hyūga's pretensions, but she viewed the stoic nature as an asset, her soft-spoken nature was a version of that stoicism, she practiced Zen meditation every morning to help her control her emotions. She even practices them during her katas for the Jūhou, while meditating, calling it moving meditation, and it helped her remain calm in battle. That she was willing to show her seductive side to Naruto, should have told him how strong her feelings for him ran. Tsunade continued, "the test also revealed a secondary element, that of utilization of vibrations, Naruto explained some of those applications to her, though with it being an unheard-of ability, she'll have to make any head way with it on her own."
Hiashi could not be prouder of his daughter, he very nearly beamed, the corner of his lips twitching a few times. Hinata and Tori caught it, and both of them could not wait to get home, and tease him about it behind closed doors, later. The fact that her father, was struggling so hard not to show such powerful emotions, almost made her want to run to him like an exuberant little girl, but she was a Hyūga and if he could remain quiet, she would too. She and Hanabi, were daddy's little girls after all, and his love was all they needed for now, though Naruto was fast approaching that level of feeling in Hinata's book. "Well, the Elders may have an issue with this, they'll see her as an abomination to the clan's future. They're such fanatics about clan traditions, any deviation tends to turn off their heads," he said sourly, "I for one, see it as a sign that our clan, has so much more potential than we allow ourselves to realize." Hiashi grimaced, "which means, unfortunately, we don't have anyone who can teach her about her nature chakra, her fire usage, which she uses in conjunction with her taijutsu-style, she had to learn on her own."
"May I speak, Father," Hinata asked respectfully, she goes on at his nod? "Naruto-san, has had quite a bit of experience uncovering and learning bloodlines of this type. He has graciously offered to train me in the use of my lightning chakra, and I believe, since he is also the practitioner of a new chakra release, Plasma release, he would be the best person to shepherd me in exploring this new nature."
Hiashi scratched his chin, as he thought over his daughter's proposal, he also eyed the young man. He, like the rest of the shinobi council knew Naruto was not the Kyūbi. That was not what he was worried about, it was letting his daughter, whom he was not blind to the fact that she had feeling for the shinobi, be alone with an older teenage boy. Hiashi sighed, then disappeared and when he reappeared, he had a chakra-coated index and middle-finger poised over the boy's heart, "as long as the only 'exploring' he does with my daughter is regarding ninjutsu," he growled, "or I'll reduce the Uzumaki by one, here in Konoha, understood, boy?"
Naruto had not flinched, as soon as the man began moving, he had activated his EM Field, "you have my word, Hyūga-sama," Naruto stated, "that except for sparring, I will lay no finger on Hinata-san, that she doesn't allow, nor will I ever abandon her." Naruto looked down causing Hiashi to look down as well, and was shocked, because the boy had a glowing spear hand, aimed at Hiashi's own chest. Each of them could kill the other with just a touch.
Hiashi laughed humorously, which shocked not only his daughter and Bird, but everybody in the room. The Hyūga's and even Hiashi's emotionless exterior was quite legendary, except for when he found his daughter in the clutches of a kidnapper, he has not even shown his emotions to enemies. He has always told his daughters and even his nephew, that your emotions were one of the few, if only things on the battlefield, one could control. He looked at Naruto as his face returned to impassivity, "I like you, kid, and I wouldn't have accepted anything less from you when I attacked you," he explained, "anybody who is willing to stand-up for those he cares about, even against others who care about the same person, is okay in my book. I can tell that you are a man of your word, and I'm glad you will be there to protect my daughter, in whatever capacity you both agree upon."
Naruto smiled, "Thank you, Hyūga-sama, and as you guessed I will protect, Hinata-chan, because I suspect that if the situation demands it, she'll do the same for me. I can't think of anybody else I'd want covering my six, other than Sakura-chan, Kurenai-sensei, or Kiba Inuzuka, than Hinata-chan."
"I must say, this is a lot different than how I anticipated you would react, Hiashi-dono," Tsunade commented, "I thought you'd be harsh and demanding like you are in council meetings."
"Don't read too much into that, Tsunade-tono," Hiashi replied stoically, "I wear many hats, right now, I am wearing the delighted clan-chief hat, when Hinata gets home, I will put on the proud father's hat. However, the next time a council meeting is convened, I will have on my politician hat, where I will rub Mikoto-tono's nose in the fact that my clan, can now boast two bloodline limits, of which, hers can only brag of one. Which is useless for reading kekkei genkai," he finished with a pompous air that was powerful, but also fake.
Sakura giggled, and tapped Hinata on the shoulder, who turned, "You're dad is so cool, Hinata-chan."
Hinata had a small smile bloom on her face, "he's alright," and Hiashi winked at her, but she maintained her best Hyūga bearing to make him proud.
At this moment, the door opened, and three people walked into the Hokage's office. There were only four people allowed to just walk into the Hokage's office without knocking, five if one counted the Daimyo. Three of those people lived in Konoha, the Konoha Elders, they were the only three people, living in Konoha, who could question the Hokage's decisions. At the moment, the position of the Elders were held by Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Mikoto, clan-chief of the Uchiha and Commissioner of the Uchiha Police Force, and Teuchi Ichiraku, the owner and proprietor of Naruto's favorite restaurant, Ichiraku Ramen, which was now under full-time management of his daughter, Ayame, when he was fulfilling his official duties as an Elder.
Mikoto Uchiha, is a fair-skinned woman with long, straight black hair and bangs hanging on either side of her face, to roughly frame her cheeks and black eyes. She wore a simple, dark-purple yukata top, with a red-plum hakama, and a light-yellow obi worn over it. She was Kushina's best friend and teammate, even if they started out as bitter rivals, they were put on the same team together, with Tsunade being their sensei, and their feelings for each other as they progressed together in skill and power, grew until they became as inseparable as sisters. They had hoped their children, as they grew would become friends, but with their personalities being so different, there was never any hope of that. Naruto, it seemed was still looking out for Mikoto's son, however, his little lesson about the class ranking yesterday, seems to have sunk Sasuke into a form of depression. Her ex-husband, the former leader of the clan, used to go on and on toward Sasuke, about the importance for getting top-marks in his class, to always be seen as superior to the other members of his class.
Naruto it seemed, understood instinctively that Sasuke was heading down the wrong path, in his shinobi thinking, and endeavored to knock that kind of thinking out of her son's head. Today was her son's Genin skills test with Anko-chan, where if he were wise, he would start to see that Fugaku's way of thinking, toward his fellow Leaf ninja was not what made a ninja strong. It just isolated them, until at some point in time, nobody wanted to work with them, nor even hire their services, because their attitude made it impossible to work with them. They either died penniless, or just died, because they thought they were more skilled and powerful than anybody else. Naruto probably thought it was just a windup, but it was the type of prank that made people's thinking change, either for better or worse.
Teuchi Ichiraku, today, was wearing his chef's uniform, which meant he was summoned during business hours at his ramen stand, and if one looked at the time, they would see that since it was just after midday, this was the peak hour for the lunch rush at the stand. Naruto felt guilty about that, but resolved to eat double his usual portion, when he went there today, once he was let go from his team. Teuchi did not seem very perturbed though, he seemed to be taking his summons in stride, which if Naruto knew his friend, was not a façade. Unlike most politicians, which the Elders, very much were, Teuchi-san wore his emotions on his sleeve, and while he was deferential to the Hokage, was not one to couch what he said behind political rhetoric. Something that Tsunade found, rather refreshing, because even her sensei and student, as informal as they could be with her, tended to have trouble getting to the point in some discussions.
The three Elders, stopped in front of their boss and bowed, which she returned, "what is this all about, Tsunade-sama," Teuchi began, "it's rare for all three of us to be summoned during the day?"
Tsunade smiled and waved to the Genin team in the room, "it seems Konoha is being rewarded further, by the development or acquisition of two," she held up two fingers, "count them, two more genso no kekkei genkai (elemental bloodline limits).
"For variety's sake, let us hope Naruto has been left alone by Fate, and the lucky recipient of these boons, is one of these two lovely young ladies," Sarutobi surmised?
"You are correct, Sandaime-dono," Hiashi stated, pointing to the kunoichi, "in addition to the Byakugan, it seems the might of the Hyūga will grow even more than it already has, my daughter has two primary affinities: Fire and Lightning, and a new never before seen secondary affinity: Shindōton, or Vibration Release." Then pointing at the rosette kunoichi, who blushed, Hiashi continued, "and it seems Kami has decided to tweak the noses of Kumogakure, and award us with Arashi no jutsu, the power they seem determined to keep to themselves, by giving us this quite formidable young kunoichi."
"Damn it," Mikoto exclaimed, "I guess I'm going to have to hear you gloat like a maniac during the next council meeting, aren't I?"
Tsunade sighed, "he practically assured us of that, Mikoto-chan, a few minutes ago," then a gleam of malice appeared on the Hokage's visage, "unless I make it an S-ranked secret, like I did for another elemental bloodline, that was discovered within the last six-months." Hiashi's eye began to twitch, then Tsunade sighed, "no that wouldn't be a judicious use of my power as the Hokage, but I will make it Need-to-Know, and as for now, until they can learn to use it in combat, only the people in this room and those they live with, have a Need-to-Know what our kunoichi are capable of," then hardened her eyes, and growled, "besides whoring."
Every kunoichi and the shinobi as well, hardened their eyes at that, all of them have had friends and relations, who are, or had been kunoichi, and the public stereotype regarding their battle prowess was one that was hard to shake. To be fair, there are such things as seduction missions, which were only given to kunoichi, the goal being to get pregnant and bring the child back to a home village, usually to acquire certain bloodlines and traits for said village. Though it was rare for such a thing to happen these days, even Cloud, who were greedy for genetic strength, would rather resort to kidnapping than send their kunoichi to foreign territory, from which for one reason or another they may not return. Plus, they would be down a fighter until the kunoichi went into labor, and trained back to fighting shape after the birth, if they even wanted to come back, they could have fallen in love with their baby, which happened a lot. For this reason, these, and assassination missions, were the only missions that any ninja may outright refuse, and any reason could be used, from personal, to ideological, or even repugnance of such a mission.
There was a buzz on the Hokage's intercom, who reached over to it, pressing the talk button asked, "Yes, Natsume-san?"
"Excuse me, Lady Hokage," her receptionist replied, "but there are several jonin out here, to turn-in their team skills assessments."
"Very well, as soon as I dismiss those here in my office, send them in, please," Tsunade ordered?
"Hai, Lady Hokage." Natsume answered.
Tsunade looked up at those in her office, getting ready to be dismissed, "All except, Kurenai-san, and the Elders are dismissed, the Elders may leave if they wish, or stay, it's up to them." All of the Genin bowed to their sensei, then the Hokage and each of the Elders, Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun, bowed to Hiashi-sama, who as soon as she came close to him, fell beside his daughter, placing a paternal hand on her shoulder, filed toward the door, opening it, and left. Of the Elders, only Teuchi elected to leave, he could have stayed, as an Elder he had the clearance to be there for anything the Hokage allowed him to be, but ninja business was ninja business, he would not understand the significance of what he heard even if he stayed. Even if both his fellow Elders, would have explained it to him, meetings of this sort would go a lot faster without him, but he was learning a great deal about Konoha he never even suspected, and his ignorance was vanishing every day.
As soon as they all left, several Jonin came through the office door and fell into line before the Hokage. Anko came in, and upon seeing one of her three best friends already there, came over and threw a familiar arm over her shoulders. Anko had a playful grin on her face, and whispered, "So, Kurenai-chan, did you confess your feelings to your blonde-haired dream," she asked?
Kurenai, who knew something like this was coming, when her friend came over to her grinning, like a cat that ate the canary, answered with a quirked eyebrow, and, "is that really all you wish to know, Anko-chan," Kurenai toyed with her? "Don't you wish to know if you'll still have a roommate, after today," Kurenai leered, "remember, if she failed my exam, she has to go back to her parents, since she'd still be a minor?"
Anko grinned, not being deflected in the slightest, "I have faith in my unofficial student, Kurenai-chan," then stepping back, and looked at her friend, "not to mention your relaxed state indicates you have no bad news to report. Which there would be, if you had to send your prospective boyfriend, back to the Academy, and because he's blown all three of his chances at Graduation, he would be disenrolled from the ninja program. Which means, if he wanted to be a ninja, he'd have to leave and become an enemy ninja, or a Ronin," Anko reminded her friend, "and neither of those two, are allowed within the village, unless it's to compete in the Chunin Selection Exam. He passed, which means Sakura passed," she inferred, "plus I saw them leaving as I entered, remember? They didn't have the dejected looks of those who'd lost everything they worked for; they were happy. Now, quit stalling, you only do that when you have something juicy to report!"
Kurenai sighed, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you'd be able to see through my dissembling; you were one of T&I's best interrogators after all." Kurenai looked around, noting that they had some space between them and the rest of their colleagues, Shisui was conversing with his clan-chief, and everybody else was consumed by their own talk. She lowered her voice anyway, "I was lured into a trap and my new Genin had me pressed against a cliff, I was boxed in, Naruto even had the forethought to line the top of the ridge with Flash Clones. He's got a head for strategy, that's for sure, anyway, I turned around to get ready to fight them," Kurenai answered, then with a smile of affection, "by this time I had no problems passing them, they fulfilled the requirement for teamwork, but I was still too full of adrenaline to stop then. Plus, it would be a good way to determine their taijutsu skill," Kurenai added, before going on, "I had my back to the cliff, thinking that they couldn't come at me from behind and surround me."
Anko smirked, Naruto had been pretty much raised by all of them, he had learned to be sneaky from her, and she had taught him his Earth techniques, "He used the Hidden in Stone technique, didn't he," she sounded proud of herself?
"It looked similar, yes, though I think he may have modified it a little," Kurenai answered, "he didn't just seem to be coming out of the cliff-face, he appeared to have become, a part of it, like he had been the rock he came from." Kurenai blushed mightily, "I didn't even feel him use his chakra, when he blew on my ear, it was all I could do not to turn around and snog him," her face was flushed as she finished her story for the events of her test. "I didn't kiss him, for two, three, no four reasons," she grinned, while pushing her tongue between her teeth, "firstly, it's against the military laws of Konoha for a student and teacher to be in a relationship; secondly and thirdly, Hinata and Sakura both like him; and lastly, he had a kunai pressed to my throat, that's not the best time to be pressing romantic advances on him."
Anko chuckled and nodded, "maybe, but then that might have added more spice to the situation."
Kurenai scoffed, "if I need spice in a relationship that has not yet, and may never be realized, then I should just give up now, and spare myself the dramatic break-up."
Anko nodded sagely in agreement, and answered blandly, "you may have a point there, especially with two rivals in your way, not to mention, the law against fraternization between sensei and student. You could be stripped of your Jonin status for that, most don't come back from that," Anko reminded her friend.
"I may not be able to do anything now, but he wants to learn genjutsu, and be a chakra master," Kurenai informed her friend, "that means time alone, together and there are plenty of ways to entice him, without either of us breaking the law. As for my two rivals, well they're my teammates and students first," Kurenai stated fiercely, "that relationship comes before the first one, and we may also become friends! Anyway, the only one who may be my biggest obstacle is the Hyūga heiress, she's also expressed an interest in genjutsu, but only sensory-genjutsu, which is usually the first section most people learn. They'll also be spending time alone with Naruto, so he can train them in lightning-chakra, and help them research another of their chakra natures, that I'll let Sakura-chan tell you about in your apartment." At Anko's questioning look Kurenai answered quickly, "its Need-to-Know, and right now, nobody else in this office has a Need-to-Know, except you," Anko nodded at her friend's assertion. "As for your question, the answer is yes, I did confess to him, sort of," Anko gave Kurenai a confused look, so she answered, "I told him that blowing on my ear, though only for specific people, which I left out," she grinned wickedly, "was the quickest way to get me into bed."
Ah-ha-ha-ha," Anko laughed out loud, "I remember when another man did that to you in market square," Kurenai's eyes went cold as Anko continued to recall that event, "you placed a genjutsu on him so demonic that he defecated in his britches!"
Kurenai developed a smile that was all teeth, "as I said, only certain people will get me into their bed when they do that, everyone else, will feel my wrath!"
Anko leered, as she continued to probe her friend's resolve, "certain people," she needled?
Kurenai just grinned, "well, only one person at the moment, and it's been that way for over a year, since his last birthday."
"Let me take a wild guess, he's got blonde-hair, like the sun, eyes like the blue-sky, and is a ninjutsu prodigy," Anko assumed, "but is interested in genjutsu, probably to challenge himself. Am I right?"
"You are," the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha confirmed, they were still whispering, though the emotion Kurenai displayed was pure and fiery!
"All right," the Hokage raised her voice, calling the meeting to order, all conversations ceased as she did so, "I will call the Team number and that team's Jonin will say if they passed or failed their Genin Team, understood?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama," they all answered, in a crisp military manner!
Tsunade began, "Team One?"
"Fail," Matsuoka-Jonin stated.
Team Two," the Hokage asked?
"Fail," said Duri Maki-Jonin.
"Team Three," asked the Hokage?
Yoshi Shimizu sighed in disappointment, "Fail."
"Don't be discouraged, you'll get another chance if you want it," Mikoto reminded her.
"Team Four," Tsunade Senju asked?
"Epic Fail," Hayashi-san growled, then turned to the Uchiha matriarch! "I'm not trying to insult your son in anyway, Uchiha-sama," she stated with a bow, "but while your son is handsome, I cannot understand the fierce loyalty he inspires in his fan-girls. They were all so concerned about getting to be with Sasuke-san, they didn't even try to help each other." She turned to the Hokage, "I know it's not my place, but they don't even deserve to be sent back to the Academy, they would be a disgrace to kunoichi if they passed."
"Noted," Tsunade stated, "Team Five?"
"Failed," Kyo Sato asserted.
"Team Six," she asked?
"Failed," Sung-Min Kim declared!
Tsunade looked at Kurenai, and asked, "Team Seven?"
"Pass," the crimson eyed Jonin declared, then added, "and I'd officially like to add the Title: Chi no Buntai (Blood Squad) to our team's official file."
"Whatever for," one of the other Jonin questioned?
Kurenai smiled, "for reasons that the Hokage and the Elders, only need to know, at the moment."
"Team Eight," Tsunade moved forward, to get this done?
"Passed," Anko smiled, "they're now my personal playthings," she stated rubbing her hands together. The rest of the Jonin, except Kurenai, shuddered at the thought of Anko being in charge of children.
Tsunade just grinned, "Team Ten?"
Shisui stated, "They Pass, though barely, my biggest headache, will be to get that damn Nara to do anything but stare at the sky all the time."
"I had one on my squad, when I was a Team-sensei," Mikoto advised, "you've gotta put the fear of God into them, otherwise you'll never get anything, but the bare minimum from them."
"Thanks, Oba-san," Shisui nodded!
"That concludes this part of the meeting," Tsunade declared, "those of you unable to pass a team, please go to the mission office and you'll pick up your next assignments."
After they all left and the three with a team remained, waiting to hear what the Hokage had to say, "Well, this has been a momentous day," she said. "The next Chunin Exams are in six-months, they'll be here in Konoha," she reminded them, "now don't push them any further than absolutely necessary, but I'd like for Konoha to put up a good showing. Now, Kurenai, your name change for your team is approved," and so saying the Hokage wrote out the new name on the form, that read: [BLOOD SQUAD: CONFIRMED].