The Joint Shinobi Selection

Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at each genin as he entered the room, surprised by the turnout. He had expected fewer participants, but twelve was already a good number for this test run. If successful, it might lead to more opportunities for better relationships with other villages and potentially extend the peace longer than it used to be. Wars were common in the shinobi world, and Sarutobi had already experienced three of them already.

It was a surprise when Iwa and Kumo joined the program. They had sent the missive to them out of formality, but none of them expected to join at all. They were proven wrong. Iwa was the most surprising of all. That village had always been the most hostile towards Konoha and anything associated with them (and the other villages). Onoki was a stubborn man, so it was a surprise that he was willing to let his village join. Hiruzen imagined him denying it with extreme prejudice.

But what's up with these jounin-senseis they sent? Iwa wasn't the only one. Every one of them sent an S-class level jounin sensei that it was scary. Plus, the representatives would be a political nightmare if anything were to happen to them under their watch, especially Iwa and Suna. The Tsuchikage's granddaughter was one of the genin, and the jounin was the Tsuchikage's nephew. Suna sent the Kazekage's youngest son. Rumors had it that he was one mentally unstable boy.

However, the first batch of the program was still a success. The Hokage was surprised he pulled it off. Most of the council was against the program but could not do anything since it was already approved by the Daimyos of the Lightning, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Grass, and Waterfall countries. The meetings, the formation, the planning, and the gathering were finally over, but the challenge had just begun. How do you make shinobi from different villages work together and risk their lives for each other after years of hatred?

The Hokage also took a glance at the three genin, Sabaku no Gaara, Uzumaki Naruto, and Fuu. Three Jinchuuriki in his village. If Danzo heard about it, he might be furious about the opportunity to get such power, but doing anything to them could cause a war and damage the relationship with their alliance with both Suna and Taki. Gaara was already unstable. Yagura had already provided him with a solution, but it would take a while until it was fulfilled, so they had no choice but to continuously watch out for any potential instability in this child.

The chuunin behind him coughed for his attention. "Lord Hokage..." one of his shinobi snapped him out of his train of thought. The genin were staring at him with both wonder and suspicion. "You should start the orientation, sir."

"Right, right." He coughed before he began.

"First, I would like to welcome you all to Konoha and thank you for participating in the first Joint Shinobi Selection Program. This program was designed to encourage peace, teamwork, and hopefully strengthen the bonds between the shinobi villages. Many of you have never experienced wars. But the impact of those events has scarred our villages. We hope that this program will allow us to create new relationships, learn from our past and with each other, and heal those scars." He paused.

"To do this, the program aims to combine genin from different villages to be part of a team and taught under new senseis. As you may have noticed, we don't have a lot of participants, as this is the first-ever joint shinobi selection program. We do hope for the success of future generations, but there are some rules you need to follow as participants..."

"Rules? What rules?" Suigetsu piped.

"We are shinobi," Kurotsuchi answered. "Many of us would have used this opportunity for infiltration and espionage. Such actions will only reduce the purpose of the program."

"That is correct, young Kurotsuchi." The Hokage replied, happily. "While we understand the importance of improving relationships, our past experiences of wars and conflict have made it difficult for us to form that bond. This is why rules must be set to avoid any problems and issues that may occur during the program."

However, almost every Genin in the room knew that there would always be loopholes in the rules. They were shinobi after all, they would just have to get creative depending on whether there were instructions from the leaders of their village about it. As the Hokage ended his speech, a glasses-wearing Konoha jounin stepped beside him, opened a scroll, and started to read.

"For the Joint Shinobi Selection Program, here are some of the rules and policies they must follow: Each participant still represents the village they belong to. They can freely move around the host village and to their home village. You are to stay, train, and get missions in the host village, which in this case is Konoha. You will be relieved from the program once you have been promoted to Chuunin. The host village will not provide a jounin sensei for this current program. Since you are shinobis of mixed villages, you are also allowed to get missions from your leaders as well."

Ebisu fixed his glasses before continuing. "Because this is a joint selection program, there is a chance that some of the villages are using this opportunity as the entrance to gather information, infiltrate, spy, and even steal important documents, secrets, and many more. If you are caught, your immunity will be canceled, and the host village will be permitted to exercise severe punishments. We hope this program will be a success and continue to the next stages. So please wait for the team assignments."

Iruka-sensei came inside the classroom with another scroll in hand and began reading the names. "Because this is a primary stage of the program, only four teams are created. For the first team Hozuki Suigetsu from Kirigakure, Atsui from Kumogakure, and Umaki Karin from Kusagakure..."

Naruto's ears perked up when he heard the word. Umaki? What a weird name.

"...your sensei is Momochi Zabuza from Kiri..." Everyone heard a loud curse from the other room. Chojuro gave an apologetic smile when everyone looked at the wall. He recognized that cursing anywhere. He remembered Zabuza murmuring before they arrived in Konoha how he felt sorry for the person who would have Suigetsu as a student.

"The second team, Tenga of Kumogakure, Chojuro of Kirigakure, and Kurotsuchi of Iwagakure. Your sensei is Darui from Kumogakure."

"Third team, Maki of Sunagakure, Ittan of Iwagakure, and Saji of Konohagakure. Your sensei is Pakura of the Scorching Sands."

Yes, I still get Pakura-sensei! Maki thought happily. However, Ittan and Saji looked a little worried. Being older Genin, they were a little familiar with the famous shinobi from other villages. Pakura was an S-rank jounin from Suna.

Scary. The two boys thought.

"The last team is Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure, Sabaku no Gaara of Sunagakure, and Fuu of Takigakure. Your sensei is Han of Iwagakure."

The Iwa genin glanced at the ones who were assigned under Han and felt sorry for them.

They have Han from Iwagakure? Iruka thought worriedly. Would Naruto be all right? Iwa hates Konoha, and the only Konoha genin in the team is Naruto. Though Suna would also outright hate Iwa with the same passion. This could lead to chaos.

"Now that this is over. Your jounin-senseis are finishing their paperwork and will pick you up here after lunch, so take this time to introduce yourself and get to know your new teammates." And without further ado, the Hokage vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto glanced at everyone in the room. The friendly-looking, minty-haired boy who was wearing a white skirt from Taki and the creepy, eyebrowless, redhead with the large gourd. They were his teammates? Naruto took a deep breath and approached them.

*****

Han sat with his arms crossed in the private room next to the classroom where their students were currently staying as they listened to the rules and the team assignments. They had already received who their students were, so he couldn't understand why the man next to him was muttering complaints.

One of the students assigned to his team was someone he didn't want. The man's name was Zabuza, and he was one of the legendary swordsmen of the mist. His large sword hung on his back. He was covered in bandages (which was not unusual for many shinobi), and he, along with Han, were the two people who were covering their faces.

Even sitting down, Han towered over the other four jounins. What surprised him the most was the fact that all of them were S-rank shinobis from their villages. Han wasn't sure what message the other villages were aiming for Konoha, but it was interesting why they were all S-rank shinobis. S-ranks were rare, and most of the time, the village leaders usually reserved them for very "special" missions.

So, what's special about this one? Politics was not enough of a reason to let their S-rank jounins away from the village this long. Having a strong shinobi here was either trying to show off or trying to use their talents to infiltrate the enemy village more effectively than a regular jounin, but he highly doubted any of them were the espionage and assassin types. Han, for example, was a high-assault shinobi, so strong powerful jutsus on the battlefield were his expertise (though being a Jinchuuriki, this was given). He was never built for espionage.

The woman glaring at him with her pupilless green eyes, green hair, and orange highlights was Pakura. Suna didn't have surnames like the other nations. They normally referred to themselves as "of the sand" or "from the sands," and if they were particularly well-known, they could have their signature name like "Pakura of the Scorching Sands." The other man was the most surprising of all. Darui. He was referred to as the Raikage's right-hand man, so it was odd why the man was sent as a sensei for this program. Oddly enough, three out of the four of them possessed a Kekkei Genkai. Han only inherited the Boil Style because he was the Gobi Jinchuuriki. Boil Style is more common in Kiri than Iwa. Pakura, because of her name's sake, had Scorch style, and Darui had storm or gale style.

But what irked Han was his team. No, what kind of stupidity did the Mizukage and the Hokage think putting four Jinchuuriki in a team? Yes, four! Him included!

Before Han reached Konoha, Roushi managed to find him in one of the inns he and the other Iwa genin were staying. It was obvious that Roushi intended to meet him there even though Han didn’t expect it at all.

“I actually expected you to be in Kiri by now…” Han said as he took a swig on his beer.

“Yeah, well, Yagura thought it would be a good idea to inform you of a very important thing before you reach Konoha.” Roushi said.

“What thing?” Han looked confused at his fellow Jinchuuriki.

“I told him it would be more fun to watch your face during the selection but it I agree it would be better for you to know.”

“Dammit, old man. What is it?”

“Here.” Roushi dropped files on the table.

Han looked at his companion in confusion but decided to read it.

What’s inside almost made Han melt the entire tavern.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!”

“Calm down!”

“CALM DOWN?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

It didn’t help that when he arrived in Konoha, he was summoned at the Hokage’s office infront of the Hokage himself and the Toad Sage Jiraiya.

"There was a reason why this was assigned to you." Jiraiya, who was also present in the office, explained. "Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki?"

This was a surprise to Han. Iwa had been using this group for various missions – missions that most normal shinobi were unwilling to partake in due to how it had a psychological toll on them, and this was why the Tsuchikage hired outsiders for the job. The Akatsuki were the Tsuchikage's favorite because they were more efficient than most shinobis.

Dammit. A mercenary group composed of S-class missing-nin who were planning to hunt down Jinchuuriki for who knows what? Missing-nin who are powerful enough to take down one Jinchuuriki. Whatever it was, gathering all the Bijuu and Jinchuuriki like that would not be a good thing.

One of their members possessed a Sharingan that was said to have put one of the most powerful Kages under a genjutsu – the Yondaime Mizukage. Their purpose was still unknown, and there wasn't much information about the group except for the fact that apparently, the idiotic terrorist Deidara had joined them. That man already knew about Roshi and Han and probably knew their weaknesses too. So, he was glad he and Roshi got out of their village in the meantime. After all, they were easy targets if they stayed in Iwa any longer.

Han sighed.

Looks like it was time for him to meet his team.