Team 8

Chapter 7: First Blood

"Me," Naruto finished her sentence dully. After another quick exchange of blows, Hinata and Shino sprang apart, panting.

"It's hard to break an ingrained habit," Kurenai said, slipping into her lecture-mode for a moment, "but once someone does manage to see the real Naruto, they don't go back to seeing you as a demon, do they?"

"No, they don't," Naruto said with a sigh. "But I was at the Academy for years, and it seems like Iruka is the only one that bothered. All of the other instructors were just trying to get back at my prisoner by making me feel stupid."

"As I said, I will not excuse their behavior," Kurenai agreed, "but I also know that Iruka really does care about you. When he heard about the spy, he thought I'd ordered you to fight... until I explained, he looked like he wanted to kill me."

Naruto was mortified that Iruka almost attacked another shinobi because of him, especially a jonin. Oddly enough, he also felt a strange warmth to know that the man cared about him that much. "G-gomen," he choked out, apologizing.

"No need for apologies," Kurenai said. "I'm glad to see the truth of his feelings. We had a very productive conversation, and I think I may be able to call him a friend in the future. But do you realize why my attitude toward questions may be somewhat at odds with what you have previously experienced?"

Naruto looked puzzled for a moment and then nodded. "Because the others wanted me to stay ignorant and fail as a ninja... that was the only means they could see for getting even with the Kyuubi."

"That is an accurate summation," Kurenai said as Hinata landed a solid hit on Shino's shoulder, making him stumble backwards. "Understanding and teasing apart the motivations of others, based upon indirect observations, is a valuable skill to cultivate for a shinobi. Even more so for a Hokage."

"Everything is a lesson with you, isn't it?" Naruto asked, half-jokingly.

"Of course," Kurenai replied softly as she stood up. "We have a lot of ground to make up, and I am responsible for your education now."

Naruto blinked as he absorbed that statement. He barely listened as Kurenai gave a detailed critique of the sparring match they'd just watched together.

OoOoO

Things were quiet, at least at first. When Kurenai was satisfied that their stamina and chakra reserves were up to the task, they began following their patrol routes through the tree cover rather than on the ground. After mastering the water-walking exercises, using chakra to keep their footing on tree branches was easy.

Before the day was over, they were leaping from tree to tree, subtly boosting their leg strength with small amounts of chakra to improve their leaping distance. Even with his weights, Naruto could make a twenty meter jump from a standing start, without really straining himself. He did, however, make sure he aimed for branches that were sturdy enough to handle his extra weight. Getting dumped on his head once was enough.

While this method was faster, Kurenai cautioned them to not use it in hostile territory, or when they feared they would be ambushed. It was damned hard to dodge a thrown kunai when you were in mid-leap, and landing on an explosive tag can ruin your whole day.

With a little subtle begging, Naruto also persuaded Kurenai to show them some more jutsus. It had been embarrassing to admit it at first, but she also showed him why he had so many problems using the body substitution technique, Kawarimi no Jutsu. It worked some times, like when he ambushed Sasuke-teme, but it failed more often than not.

As he suspected, he'd been throwing far too much chakra into the technique, which surprised him at first. He thought moving your body in the blink of an eye, and replacing it with a nearby object would take a lot of energy. Kurenai-sensei merely shook her head and explained that if the common shinobi technique required as much chakra as he used, it would kill anyone weaker than a jonin who tried it.