Chapter 4
The first one to finish his test was, surprisingly, Naruto. The boy had retrieved the book from the library and reached the rendezvous point within an hour. One of Ira's clones was waiting for him back at the training ground and verified the book and told him he did a good job and to wait for his remaining teammates.
He pouted but sat down obediently. Figuring that he had nothing better to do, he tried flipping through the book he bought and looked at its diagrams and flowcharts. Reading was boring, alright?
About an hour later the Uchiha returned looking as if he was ready to murder someone, Naruto gulped when he saw him, his expression was really scary. In his hand, he had a small scroll which he gave to their sensei's clone before plopping down against a tree. Ira read the scroll and nodded at the boy, the academy teacher had written he had done a decent job with the kids and while he wouldn't suggest the Uchiha to take up teaching as a career the boy was clear in his instructions and demonstrations.
They waited for what seemed like hours before the Hyuga heiress appeared at the ground, for some reason, she was covered in dirt and panting harshly. She too, as Sasuke had, handed the scroll over to their new teacher and waited anxiously for her report. Ira skimmed through the scroll before she nodded at Hinata who relaxed visibly.
"Good job children, all three of you have passed your test within the time limit, please make way too the Uchiha compound. Sasuke, lead them to our house, we'll discuss your experience at length over dinner." The clone said.
To Naruto's horror, their sensei stabbed herself in the stomach after she finished speaking. He was about to cry out but instead of blood, she dissolved in a puddle of water.
Oh.
A water clone.
So cool!
"C'mon, let's hurry," Sasuke stated and started walking towards his house without checking if the others were following up.
"Hey, hey, Sasuke-teme, you live with sensei?" Naruto asked as he walked beside him, Hinata trailing behind them shyly.
"Hn. She is an Uchiha,"
"What! But sensei said her name is Oat-suck-see or something,"
"Ootsutsuki, dobe. And she's half Uchiha," he said with a tone that meant he won't answer further questions. Naruto grumbled about what an asshole his teammate was but stayed quiet rest of the way.
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Ira had started setting the plates as soon as she recieved the memories of her clone. She had made grilled Unagi with soy sauce and sugar, along with white rice and kabayaki. She had set a small plate with cherry tomatoes for Sasuke at his seat as well.
Within a few minutes, the three children trotted in. Naruto looked in top condition, Sasuke was grumpy and done with social interaction, and Hinata.. well, that girl had certainly seen better days.
"Ah you're all here, Good job all of you, welcome to team 7." she smiled warmly, "Sasuke, Naruto, go and wash up, then come to the dinner table. Hinata, come with me," she said and made a motion for the girl to follow her as she walked to her bedroom.
"Are you okay? Your jacket seems a bit torn up," she said once they were inside.
"H-hai sensei, Anko-san was just..." she girl blushed and looked down, "I found her soon enough, b-but she kept running away to the forest and the Jonin bar... so I had some trouble getting the scroll."
"That explains the dirt, use the shower if you want to, I don't have anything that will fit you but maybe Sasuke has some loose jackets.." she mused and the other girl shook her head.
"That's no problem sensei, I always have s-spare clothes with me. Thank you for letting me use the shower," she bowed and Ira ruffled her hair.
"Don't worry about it, be quick okay? I bet you're all hungry," Ira replied and left the girl to her own devices.
Once she reached the dining the room, both the boys were already seated and Naruto was speaking rapidly while Sasuke looked between his chopsticks and the blonde as if deciding whether stabbing him would be okay or not. Before things could escalate further, Ira took her seat and rested her arms on the table, relaxing in the comfort of your home.
"Let us wait for Hinata, she'll be done any minute."
They waited for a few minutes before Hinata came back, sitting in an empty seat avoiding eye contact.
"Let's have some well-deserved food huh?" she said and started took a good portion for herself, the others followed her example and they began eating with an 'Itadakimasu'
"WOAH! This is almost as good as ramen!"
"Shut up dobe!"
The dinner was mostly quiet after that, with occasional chatter and bickering, mostly from Naruto.
"Sensei, will you tell us the story now? You said you will when I became a genin." Sasuke spoke once they cleared their plates.
"Huh? What story? Did you save an amazing princess?! Or kill a monstrous dragon!?" Or-"
"Dobe, shut up, it's the story of the sage."
"What stage?"
"SAGE!"
"Alright boys, calm down. Well, I guess this is as good as any other time. Let's sit, I'll tell you."
Within minutes, all four were sitting on the carpets in their 'meditation room' huddled together in a circle. Ira looked at them for a moment before starting her story.
"Once upon a time, long before the establishment of villages, people lived in tribes and kingdoms, there were many wars and the world was stuck in conflict. Then one night, a mysterious object fell from the sky, the people of the kingdom went to investigate it, but it turned out to be a woman. She had pale pupilless eyes and white hair. Along with her was born a tree, that grew stronger and taller than any other trees.
The woman ate the fruit of the tree and became the mother of all chakra, she controlled the lands with her power and put all conflicts and wars to an end. But she also started sacrificing people for her personal army. She had two sons, Homura and Hagoromo, she had passed to them her chakra when they found out about her wrongdoings and fought her, during the fight, she merged with the divine tree and became a monstrous creature with ten tails. Her sons defeated her and sealed her and in the moon, "
"THE MOON? Like the moon outside the room? In the sky?" Naruto asked excitedly and Sasuke huffed, muttering about what other moons would it possibly be. Hinata was smiling at them and Ira nodded with a grin.
"Yes. Anyway, Homura decided to settle on the moon, he was the father of the Byakugan. His descendants travelled to the earth and eventually founded the Hyuga and the Kaguya clans. Hagoromo sealed the ten tails inside himself and eventually established Ninshu, which meant connecting with others through chakra."
"Ninshu? I've never heard of it b-before," Hinata stammered.
"Mhm, over time people just forgot about it."
"That's sad... "
Ira's eyes softened when she looked at her female students, "Yes, it is, isn't it? Moving on, Hagoroma had two sons and one daughter. His daughter had always been a teacher and in her life, she took on many students under her care. His two sons were opposites, one was a prodigy and liked working alone while the younger one was lazy and preferred playing with his friends. Once they grew up, both of them became very strong. Due to the younger one's compassion and hardworking nature, the sage declared him to be the successor of Ninshu. Blinded by jealously and hate, the older brother vowed to destroy Ninshu and established his teachings in the form of Ninjutsu. The sage was old, and later in his life, they split the ten tails inside him into nine beasts. Which we know today as the Bijuu."
Naruto gasped and looked nervous but Ira only patted his head in assurance, Sasuke and Hinata looked at them in confusion but remained quiet as she spoke on, "He named each of the Bijuu as his own children and created shrines for all of them. They were meant to create balance in the world. The two brothers kept on fighting and fighting and eventually died. The younger brother's descendants were the Senju
and the older brothers were the Uchiha."
"What happened to their sister?" Sasuke spoke for the first time. Ira couldn't completely suppress her grimace and gave him a sad smile, "She died when she was still young, in one of her brother's fights." She changed the topic before he could ask further.
"So, the Bijuu were made of pure chakra, they were excellent sensors and could feel human emotions. As time passed and the shinobi world grew, the most abundant emotion was hatred, the Bijuu absorbed the hatred laden chakra and eventually became angry and hateful themselves. All this only increased when people started viewing them as weapons and sealed them into humans." she finished.
Naruto was looking conflicted and nervous as he kept on fidgeting. "But they're bad right?! I mean the Kyuubi attacked the village twelve years ago and so many people died?"
"Naruto, imagine a box."
"Huh?"
"Just humour me, an empty black box with no light, no sounds, no scents, no way of escaping, no interaction," she said.
"That sounds weird ttebayo,"
"Now imagined being chained and locked inside this box for around a hundred years, wouldn't you do anything you can to escape it? Be angry at the people who forced you there?" she asked and he scrunched up his nose.
"That's what a Bijuu would feel like inside a seal," she concluded and watched as realisation hit the boy.
"But what can I do to help? I don't want it to suffer there!" he exclaimed and she smiled, he truly was such a pure child.
"Sometimes, a bit of kindness can change a person. Don't worry, I'll teach you to meditate and reach him."
"What are you two speaking about?" Sasuke asked with a frown, tired of being out of the conversation.
Ira remained quiet and looked at Naruto, it was his secret to tell and his decision on whom to trust with it.
"I'm a jinchuriki! The yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside me twelve years ago," he blurted out, looking increasingly uncomfortable with the silence.
There was a long moment of silence before Sasuke spoke, "That's why people are mean to you."
Naruto nodded without meeting anyone's eyes.
"Hn, did the Kyuubi eat away your intelligence too? Might be a reason for being such a dobe," he said and Naruto gaped for a second before launching himself at the raven, "TEME!"
Ira figured this was Sasuke's version of telling the blonde that he didn't care about his status, she wasn't surprised, during the time she was lived with Sasuke, they have talked about a lot of things and he has become very open-minded with most stuff. She was only worried about the Hyuuga's heiress' reaction. The girl had likely grown up with stories about the horror of the Kyuubi and the loss of people during its attack. Once Sasuke and Naruto had calmed down they all looked at her who shied away under their gaze.
"I think you're very s-strong, Naruto-kun." she said, "I m-mean, you hold the Kyuubi back from attacking the village again, a-and I think people should thank you for keeping them safe. And if Ira sensei is right, then I think you're the best person to change the Kyuubi's mind." she hesitated for a moment before adding, "Y-you're very admirable,"
Ira beamed at her new student and Naruto teared up, he gave Hinata a big hug and the girl blushed a dark red before passing out, Ah, puppy love.
"Huh? Ira-sensei! Hinata is sick! She fainted! She's red too, maybe feverish as well...." Naruto blabbered and Ira rolled her eyes, boys.
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"Good morning sensei!" Naruto chirped as he arrived at the training ground. "Ne, who is this weirdo?" he asked pointing at Kakashi who stood beside Ira with an eye smile.
"He's Hatake Kakashi, don't worry about him, he's a complete pervert who reads porn in public and is late to everything. He keeps bugging Ira-sensei for free food, like I said, a total loser," Sasuke replied with his arms crossed, he was glaring at the said man so hard that Ira felt a bit of KI coming off of him, she was so proud.
"Hmmm, he does look like one of the weird guys, look at his hair! It doesn't even obey gravity," Naruto nodded sagely and Ira snickered.
"I didn't know you knew what gravity is, dobe."
"Teme!"
"What, dobe?"
And with that both of them started fighting again, even Hinata sighed, looking done with her teammates.
"Maa, Ira-san, are they always like that?" Kakashi asked watching her students.
"Yes, pretty much, adorable, aren't they?" she said fondly and the man looked at her as if she offended his entire family tree. She cleared her throat and both the boys stopped fighting and looked at her.
"As you all already know, I haven't been a part of this village for very long, and due to that Hatake-san is here to help you with training as I do not know the exact workings of mission parameters," she explained and they nodded, though Sasuke kept glaring at the older man.
"Where was he all this time? We've already been training for over a month 'ttebayo!" Naruto said accusingly pointing a finger at him.
"Maa, Naruto-kun, I've been on a mission outside the village. It's good to see you all," he said with a wave and smile.
"Ira-sensei, you said that with conviction we can achieve anything. Then why is this man still present here? I've prayed my hardest to send him away," Sasuke looked at her ignoring Kakashi's greetings. Ira smiled at him brightly, he's growing up so cool.
"Keep trying Sasuke-kun, don't lose hope," she replied in between chuckles and he nodded seriously, Kakashi had an expression of mock hurt on his face as he placed a hand on his chest.
"So cruel to your sensei," he wailed dramatically and Ira rolled her eyes.
"Today you'll be doing your first D-rank mission with Kakashi." She ignored the cries of her students and went on, "No complaining, I have something to do and I can't accompany you, I'm sorry kids, but duty calls. Let's have a team dinner tonight yeah? To celebrate your first mission, I'll make something nice. Hinata, you're the mission leader, boys, listen to her. If I get complaints I'll double the endurance training for a month" she grinned at their dramatic yelling.
Hinata was hiding a smile of her own and Ira felt proud, they were making progress. The girl had a lifetime of insecurity to deal with but she was proud of her small steps. A month ago she would stammer and become nervous with being put in any situation of leadership. Now she looked nervous about being in a position of leadership regarding Sasuke and Naruto. As Ira said, progress.
"I'm the Jonin," Kakashi said blandly.
"Then act like one, Hatake-san," she retorted sweety with a sharp smile
"I'm off then, Take care and listen to Hinata," she said and ruffled all of their hair, before leaving the grounds and making way to the recently discovered Kyuubi shrine. She had thought it had been destroyed over the years, but apparently, it was just lost and forgotten. As much as she didn't want to miss her children's first mission, she couldn't delay the visit in the slightest.
Omake: the night after their first mission-
"He didn't do anything! He just sat on the tree as we painted the fences and took care of the weeds in the garden!" Naruto complained as they ate. Ira shook her head, she really should have guessed.
"And he had the gall to be offended when I threw a can of leftover paint over his book," Sasuke grunted and the three shook their heads sympathetically. All of them ignored the squeak the silver-haired man made from his seat on the table.
"I had to deal with the employer and get the instruction myself, he was so lost," Hinata added.
"Hinata-chan, I graduated at six, and we were at war, this is the first D-rank mission I've ever done," he spoke in his defence.
"It was our first D-rank mission too, sensei," the girl spoke darkly.
"And what do you mean 'the first D-rank mission I've ever done' huh 'ttebayo?! All you did was sit and read porn!" Naruto added.
"He's even more emotionally stunted than I was, sensei," Sasuke said in a very serious tone and this time Kakashi actually choked on his food.
"Maybe we should send him to therapy and social interaction classes.." Hinata said thoughtfully. Kakashi was shaking his head so hard Ira wondered for a second if he would pass out.
"And despite all this, you children did the mission successfully, I'm so proud of you guys," Ira said affectionately and the three genin basked in the praise, giving dirty eyes to the Hatake when their teacher wasn't looking.
Kakashi wondered about what this three would do to Konoha in a few years if left like this? He gulped.