Chapter 17: Preparations and Missions
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As introductions finished, Naruto nodded happily at his friends. He had hoped that they would like Fu and his faith had paid off. Looking around the training field he smiled in amusement knowing that Shino had been put through the wringer with Kakashi's training program. Looking over to the other genin he smiled once more.
"How about we all go out for some ramen and get to know one another better, and then I can explain some things that I know have been bothering you." Naruto suggested getting everyone's attention. Laughing at Sasuke's look he darted off without waiting for anyone to agree.
"We might as well follow the ramen addict. This way." Sasuke groaned leading the newcomers through the village. He had somehow known that the Rokudaime would somehow bring ramen into the occasion but hadn't expected him to take off the way that he did. Arriving at Ichiraku's he glared at the bubbling blonde who was bouncing in his seat.
"You could have waited and why is it always ramen with you?"
"Sorry I was excited and it is not always ramen! I haven't had any ramen since before we left for our first mission!" He replied indignantly. Rolling his eyes Sasuke quickly placed an order for some curry ramen and waited as the rest of them placed their orders. Once that was done he looked at his friend and kage and waited for him to begin.
"Okay then, now that that is done we can get onto business. Shino I am going to place Fu on your team. Zabuza will be in charge of your squad as I have said before. This way I know for a fact that you will be trained and ready for anything. Furthermore, we will need to get in touch with Asuma's team Kakashi-sensei. His team isn't nearly close to being prepared for one attacker let alone an army if it comes to that." Naruto snorted and then sipped at his sweet tea. Kakashi merely raised an eyebrow at the genin but nodded.
"Gai's team as well. With any luck we will be able to whip Neji into shape before he pisses dobe off. He might actually lose his head..." Sasuke added musing aloud to himself. Naruto just grunted in response and before more could be said their food began to arrive. Setting their conversation aside they began to eat their lunch.
Back on the training field...
"Okay now that we have full stomachs, what we need to do is arrange for group training sessions between all of our teams. That way we are all improving and Shikamaru gets some form of motivation behind him." Naruto said flopping to the ground. Fu had no idea of what they were discussing or why it seemed like Naruto was giving orders to his jonin as if he was the one in charge of the team but as no one was saying anything she decided to stay quiet. Zabuza and Haku were just as confused but they knew that the boy had more than 'some' sway in the village and a secret that he was protecting.
"I can discuss it with them and hopefully they will agree. Actually, I think I will discuss the possibility of doing survival training with all of the teams. I would have to get that cleared with the Sandaime but if it is approved we will be able to train in seclusion for a while and be able to show off your skills without the Sandaime spying." Kakashi replied seriously. Naruto nodded and sighed leaning back against the tree.
"Once we have spent enough time alone I will be able to discern who should be told and who should be left in the dark. Zabuza, Haku and Fu will be told once we are out of Konoha but everyone else needs to be tested as you were, sensei." Kakashi nodded in understanding and he glanced over at Zabuza.
"Have you ever had a genin squad?"
"No..." The swordsman trailed off he had a very bad feeling.
"Let me show you what my team does on a regular basis for training. Hopefully you will get some ideas for your team." Kakashi said sweetly. Nodding a little concerned Zabuza, Haku, Shino and Fu leaned back to see how team seven trained. Shino had a decent idea of what to expect but the other three didn't. He actually found the idea of them seeing it firsthand amusing. Smirking to himself he knew that the show would be well worth the slight delay in training.
Several Hours Later...
When Kakashi finally called for a break in the training he noticed that the swordsman's eyes were merely coming out of his head. He laughed to himself and sat down next to the startled Uzu nin. Next to him Fu and Haku had similar expressions. Meanwhile, Shino was struggling not to laugh at his comrades state. He had also thought that the training that team seven did was absurd when he had first seen it and now he had someone else to share that opinion with.
"You alright Zabuza?" Kakashi asked him as he unsealed a bottle of water and took a sip.
"You do that everyday?" He nearly screamed in shock.
"No."
"Oh thank goodness I was starting to thin..."
"We do that while on a mission or have just finished a mission. This is relaxed." Kakashi added making the man gape even more.
"Are you insane? Not even Kiri's training program was that brutal, before they changed it! If it had been there would have been no one left to take the exam!"
"That's not entirely true. I have merely constructed a training program meant to bring the full potential of my genin out based on what they were capable of when we met and how fast they learn. The only thing stopping a shinobi from excelling is themselves." Kakashi replied to the shocked shinobi. Nearby, Haku and Fu were struggling to remember how to talk.
"What the hell?!" Haku finally exclaimed uncharacteristically. That was all it took to send Shino into peels of laughter. Both girls looked at the boy and groaned as they realized that he had known that this would happen and he had not warned them.
"You could have warned us!" Haku growled. Shino giggled and looked over at her.
"Why? At least someone else knows how I felt when I first saw that!" He managed before breaking into uncontrollable laughter once more. Rolling her eyes Haku leaned back pouting.
"What are you training for? The end of the world?" Fu asked somewhat sarcastically not really expecting an answer.
"Precisely." Came the unanimous reply from the whole team in a tone that implied that they were dead serious. Zabuza blinked at the jonin next to him and then narrowed his eyes at them.
"I think we deserve an explanation as to what is going on here so I know how much training my team needs to get done in a short amount of time." After a second Naruto nodded and sat down to explain.
"The thing is Zabuza, you and Haku were supposed to die on the bridge in Nami no Kuni." He started making the two of them gape. Taking a deep breath he told them everything that he had told Kakashi and Shino. The looks that ran through the three newcomers ranged between anger, shock, frustration, sadness and determination.
One lengthy explanation later...
"So that is that."Naruto said sipping on his water. The silence was deafening as he looked at the three before them.
"So...Haku died protecting me and I died trying to take Gato with me?" Zabuza whispered never once considering the other way that their battle could have ended. Or that they had come against a jinchuriki and the strongest to boot.
"I lost Chomei?" Fu whispered feeling fear creep through her.
"Yes, but I don't intend to let that happen again. That is why I am changing things. However, we have run into a bit of an unexpected situation. We expected things to change when we began to diverge from the original timeline however they are diverging faster than we anticipated. Team eight was never meant to get the Nami mission." Naruto replied seriously.
"I see. You need us to be prepared for anything as soon as possible with no delay." Zabuza said after a minute of digesting what he had heard.
"Exactly especially with what is coming." Sasuke said sipping at his own water. "During the next chunin exam to be held in Konoha we will be invaded. That is only a few months away and this village is not prepared in the least for this."
"Very well." Zabuza said standing and picking up the Kubikiribocho. "Then I suppose that we stop wasting time. Team eight let's go we have training to do." Naruto smiled as the team ran after their new jonin and leaned back.
"You can release the privacy seals Sasuke." Nodding Sasuke did as instructed and Naruto smirked. "You can come out now Team ten...You are good at information gathering but no where near good enough to beat a sensor." Kakashi raised an eyebrow as they came out of the foliage with a shocked expression.
"Trying to train their stealth Asuma? They did good hiding from my nose but never took into account Hinata's byakugan or that we may have a sensor on the team and I doubt that you brought it up."
"How the hell is your team still alive after that level of training?" Asuma demanded. Kakashi laughed.
"They don't have a choice. If they die they still have to finish their assigned exercises." Asuma gaped openly at his friend in shock.
"How is Kurenai? I doubt that she took her tongue lashing well." Kakashi asked making Asuma flinch.
"She got demoted back to chunin and put on gate duty. When she got home she lit into me for it and after trying in vain to get her to calm down I broke up with her because I really don't need that in my life." Asuma said sitting down.
"Sorry about that. I guess that she is still sore from the tongue lashing I gave her when we arrived to back up her team." Asuma shrugged nonchalantly.
"She was becoming overbearing anyway. She was so bossy when we were together and heaven forbid I talk to someone who was single while I was with her. I wouldn't hear the end of it for a week."
"Wasn't that Zabuza Momochi just now?" Shikamaru finally asked.
"Yup. He works for me now!" Naruto chirped standing. "Well we will see you guys later. We have to do our run now." Nodding to their friend Sasuke and Hinata tore off after the blonde and once they were out of sight Kakashi started snickering.
"What run and what is so funny?" Asuma queried.
"Their twenty mile run of course. Although, I guess I forgot to tell them that I turned it into a survival based obstacle course." After a few seconds he added "I should also adjust the seals they are wearing. I haven't increased the weight, gravity or resistance in awhile." Asuma gaped as Kakashi made a quick seal and then shouts could be heard in the forest. It almost sounded as if Naruto was cursing Kakashi's first born child.
"Speaking of which Asuma I was thinking of doing some joint group training sessions with you, Gai and Zabuza. Are you interested?"
Six weeks later...
"Well now it seems as if all of your teams have been increasing at a very steady rate. I see no reason why I shouldn't allow you to take on a group survival training mission." Hiruzen said after looking over the results of teams seven, eight and ten. "However, are you certain that you want to bring team nine as well? They have a year's head start on your teams."
"Zabuza had almost a decade on mine and Kurenai's team when we met." Kakashi pointed out. Gai felt himself twitch involuntarily. He had felt that something was off when Kakashi had challenged him instead of the other way around. When he had won he had insisted on team nine joining them on a survival mission. He should have just refused.
"Gai? Are you okay with this?"
"Of course Hokage-sama!" Gai shouted with all of his normal enthusiasm. Kakashi shook his head as he heard Naruto growl and watched Gai flinch. Every since they had run into Gai's squad Naruto had been working on curbing the unnecessary shouting him and Lee tended to do and the last time Gai didn't tone it down he woke up in the women's hot spring while several ANBU were relaxing.
"Very well. I see no reason not to approve of the request."
"Hokage-sama I would also like to take on missions while doing the survival training. It would be good field experience for all of them. Furthermore, the village would still be operating without losing any manpower." Kakashi added making the other jonin groan. When Zabuza and Asuma had started training together he had made them almost terrified of Kakashi's obsession with working the genin almost to death.
"I see."
"I can send Pakkun back to the village to drop off mission reports and pick up new missions based on where we are in the training." Kakashi added making the Sandaime nod. Despite wanting to keep Naruto and Sasuke in the village where they could be watched more easily for any more erratic behavior he knew that refusing in front of the other jonin would raise questions that he was not willing to answer. Signing the required forms he handed them over to the copy nin and leaned back.
"Any idea of when you intend to return to the village?"
"In time for the chunin exams Hokage-sama." Came Kakashi's reply. Nodding he watched as the four teams left the room and he sighed. Somehow he felt as if things were going to go horribly wrong soon and he wasn't sure if he should try to figure out what was coming or ignore it and hope that it went away.
Kakashi made sure to stop by the mission hall on his way out and pick up quite a few missions for their trip to start with. He actually found the look on the chunin's faces hilarious before he mentioned that they would be split between four teams which is why he needed so many. He headed home and began to pack the things that they would need for the trip. He wasn't going to allow the future to come true if he could help it. He wouldn't fail Obito and Minato-sensei, he refused.
At the Hyuga estate...
Hinata darted to her room hoping that she would be able to get everything ready quickly. Due to the type of mission that they were going on she knew that she would need more than she normally carried on her. Especially medicinal supplies. As she packed more clothes her mind began to wander as she tried to discern what Naruto-kun had wanted to speak to her father about.
Naruto gulped as he knocked on the Hyuga patriarch's door and waited for permission to enter. After hearing the stern man call out he entered the room and bowed to the man before him. He was more nervous now then he had been the first time.
"Hiashi-sama, I wanted to ask for permission to date Hinata-hime." He said hoping that it had come out steady and didn't reflect any of the nervousness he felt. As Hiashi stared him in the eye he felt a trickle of sweat run down his face. Somehow he felt as if the room was shrinking. 'Crap I'm panicking again!' He thought to himself.
"I see and what are your intentions with my daughter?"
:To Be Continued: