Chapter 38 : Assignments(4)
Week one – Maito Gai.
It was the day of the genin team announcement, and all of the young, freshly-minted shinobi were excited to meet their jonin-sensei. Most of the year's academy graduates were from the clans of Konoha, and most of them were the heirs and heiresses of said clans. It looked like a good crop this year, and Naruto was almost as excited as the genin.
Since he could remember, he loved to learn new things. His innate ability to feel every living thing around him made him an extremely curious person, so when he had the chance to learn something new, he always jumped for it.
Being attached to four different jonin to observe their teaching methods would most definitely teach him new and different things. What those things were, he had no idea, and he really didn't care. As long as it helped him in his crucible to gain the strength to keep his village safe, he'd learn them.
The rotation schedule was decided when they had lunch at Ichiraku's. Since Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai would be receiving new teams, they needed to have a few private sessions before they could introduce Naruto into the mix, and having the Bringer of Hope around to observe their Genin Test would make the green genin so nervous they wouldn't have a fair chance to prove themselves.
So, Gai had volunteered to take the first shift. Since he had been with his team for an entire year already, the transition would be smoother. After Gai, he'd move on to Asuma, and then to Kakashi, and Kurenai would be the last. He'd only spend two weeks with each jonin, but that was more than enough for Naruto.
He could have observed them for only a day and be able to replace them, and no one would even know, but he wasn't going to argue with spending more time with them. They were starting to become his friends, and Naruto wanted everyone in Konoha to see him like that, friendly. He was a monster, but meant no harm to his birthplace whatsoever.
Naruto really wanted to watch the genin meet their new instructors, but he had somewhere else to be. Training Ground Nine was Team Gai's regular meeting place. It had many trees, which helped every member of the team out in one way or another. When Naruto had arrived he was aware that he was the last one to show up. He knew for a fact he was on time, so he chalked it up to the rest of them being early. He would soon find out that his guess was true.
Gai caught Naruto's arrival in the corner of his eye, and ordered everyone to stop whatever they were doing. The three genin assembled around their sensei just in time to see Naruto heading right for them.
"Who's that, sensei?" A girl with her hair up in two buns asked.
"A spy?" a boy with long black hair asked in an accusing voice.
Naruto gave Gai a face that said 'help me out here', and was relieved when he was saved. "No, Neji-kun," Gai began, "He is a friend of mine." He brought his thumb up to point at the blond who had arrived. "This, my youthful students, is Uzumaki Naruto!" He said in a grandiose voice.
The three genin looked at him like he was wearing a green, skintight spandex suit….
…clearly confused at the over-the-top introduction.
Gai shook his head. "Ah, you wouldn't know him by his real name yet, would you?" he asked rhetorically. "I apologize." He started again. "This shinobi, is the Bringer of Hope! Konoha's Kamikage!" Gai shouted as he fist-pumped into the heavens.
For what felt like an eternity, Lee, Tenten, and Neji just stood there, frozen in shock and awe, before Tenten shook from her surprised state of mind and entered one of nonbelief. "Sure, Gai-sensei." The aspiring weapons specialist said in a sarcastic tone. "And I'm Tsunade-hime of the Sannin."
Naruto smiled and reached out his hand to shake the kunoichi's. "Your sensei is not lying, kunoichi-san." he began. "I was given the moniker Bringer of Hope by Mizu no Kuni." He stated. "And Kamikage just kind of snuck up on me. Lord Hokage refers to me as his shadow, and one of his monikers is the God of Shinobi, so the other ANBU put two and two together and, well, you know the rest." He said with a genuine smile. He knew the girl still didn't believe him, but he was going to try and make a good impression nonetheless.
"Gai-sensei, is he really the Kamikage?" The Gai lookalike asked in excitement. Naruto now knew why his captain threatened the jonin if green spandex came anywhere near him. Apparently, the man liked to have mini-me's.
"Yes, Lee-kun!" Gai replied with just as much excitement. "He is!"
The obvious Hyuuga stepped closer to the blond. "Uzumaki-san, was it?" He asked, getting a nod from Naruto. "It is an honor to meet you." He reached out and grabbed the hand offered to Tenten. "I am Hyuuga Neji." He finished as he shook the legend's hand firmly.
"Nice to meet you too, Neji-san." He replied. "And you can call me Naruto, if you want." He added, wanting to establish a less formal bond between a possible future teammate.
The green beast of Konoha was the next to speak. "Yosh! I'm Rock Lee, and I'm going to be the best taijutsu specialist the world has ever seen!" He yelled with confidence.
Naruto could feel the boy's determination and smiled. He was going to complete his goal or die trying. "The Will of Fire burns strong within you, Lee-san." He replied. "I'm honored that I can witness your rise to the top."
Naruto was a little thrown off when the green-clad boy took out a little pad and pencil from seemingly nowhere and began to write enthusiastically, but once he felt that it was normal behavior from the others, he shrugged it off.
"Wait…" The Kunoichi said hesitantly. "You're actually the Bringer of Hope?" She asked.
Naruto nodded and offered her his hand again. "Yeah, but the name's Naruto. It's nice to meet you." He kept his happy smile the entire time he spoke, causing the girl to blush a little. Whether it was because she thought he was cute, or because of his legendary hero status, no one but Naruto and her would ever know.
Her mind was easy to read.
It was both.
She shyly shook his hand and nodded. "O-okay, Naruto-san." Her voice was lower and more subdued. "I'm Tenten." She finished, letting go of his hand.
"Naruto-san here will be attached to Team Gai for a couple of weeks." Gai announced, getting his three students to widen their eyes in shock. "He will be observing our regular training routines and how I lead so that he can start leading his own genin soon." After he finished, he stroke a nice guy pose, which confused Naruto greatly. This man was different, that's for sure, but Naruto liked different, it kept things interesting.
"Why does he have to watch you to know how to lead a team, sensei?" Tenten asked. "Wasn't the Kamikage an ANBU Captain?"
Naruto decided to answer this one. "I've only lead trained and experienced ANBU operatives, Tenten-san." He explained. "I haven't the slightest clue how to properly lead and guide lower-ranked shinobi. If I was given a genin team, I wouldn't know how to teach them. If I had a chunin cell to lead, I would expect too much from them. Even if I had to lead a jonin cell, it would be difficult for me. ANBU are specialized for high risk missions, and because of that, know the proper protocol for anything that may or may not happen if I'm busy with something. Most jonin are specialized in one or two categories, and don't know everything I – and the rest of the ANBU – do. That's why Lord Hokage has asked some of the jonin to teach me how I'm supposed to deal with it all." After the detailed explanation, he received nods from all of the genin. He knew that they now fully understood.
"Well, what're we waiting for?" Gai boomed. "We're in the springtime of our youth! No time like the present!" Naruto smiled at his enthusiasm, and even laughed when it was mirrored by Lee. He was going to have fun with these people.
Week two – Maito Gai.
During the first week of observing Gai and his team, Naruto became aware of many things.
The first thing he realized was that teaching genin took a whole lot of time. Unlike him, the low ranking shinobi's learning curve was irritatingly slow. Even the simplest of things took the genin of Team Gai an entire day or two to learn. It was eye opening; he really was an incredibly fast learner.
The second thing he learned was that Rock Lee was probably one of the most inspirational shinobi he knew. The genin was always training in taijutsu, but Naruto had just thought that it was a phase. When he actually felt the boy's chakra system, he had been shocked at how underdeveloped it was.
He was told by Gai that Lee aspired to be a Taijutsu Master because it was the only Shinobi Art he could use. Naruto had sparred with the green beast a few times already, and to be told that it was all brute strength and plain taijutsu was awe inspiring. Lee was one of the hardest working shinobi Naruto had met, and he had only just started his shinobi career a year ago. The boy had the potential to become legendary, and Naruto was going to make sure he was there to see it.
Tenten was actually a lot better with shurikenjutsu than Naruto thought she'd be. The young kunoichi used a clever tactic that involved basic fuinjutsu to launch the weapons at her targets. It didn't look like it would be very effective at first glance, but the stubborn genin made it work.
Her accuracy was impressive as well, which should have been extremely difficult. Apparently, whenever she couldn't hit her target she'd just bombard it with everything she had. It was overkill, but effective overkill.
He hadn't spent much time with Neji; the Hyuuga prodigy was always either training by himself, or with his cousin. Naruto didn't know which cousin he meant, what with the Hyuuga clan having so many relatives. For all Naruto knew he could have ten, maybe even twenty cousins. He didn't give it too much thought though. His assignment was to observe the proper way to lead lower-ranked shinobi, and he had done that.
During the second week, Naruto had even joined Rock Lee in his morning workouts, which, anyone other than Naruto would call extreme. The things he did with the aspiring taijutsu specialist were, for lack of a better word, crazy. Even with the blond's ANBU-trained body, his muscles ached a little after every session.
He had even taken to wearing the same weights Lee had around his legs. They were incredibly useful, and Naruto had gotten used to them after the first day. When he took them off, he'd be even faster than he already was which pleased the Uzumaki to no end. He had the Yellow Flash as a father; he needed every bit of help he could get when it came to speed.
The entire second week was beneficial to him in many ways. He had gained the wisdom of a teacher who thought that hard work and discipline made greatness, and if his team was anything to go by, Naruto had to agree. Gai's students were top rate genin, borderline chunin, and it had a lot to do with their sensei.
Naruto honestly learned more than how to lead genin during his time attached to Team Gai, though. He had increased his strength, stamina, and speed in just two weeks with Gai and his apprentice. Even after he rotated to Asuma, he most likely would keep showing up to their morning training sessions whenever he could.
He had made bonds outside of the ANBU, and he held them just as close to his heart as the others.
Konoha was slowly accepting him, and he loved her even more for it
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