The Joint Shinobi Selection

Naruto, Fuu, and Gaara found each other at one of the entrances of their meeting place. Gaara looked fine but the other two looked like zombies. The meeting time was so early, that the sun was barely up in the sky.

“It’s so early.” Naruto groaned while rubbing his eyes.

Fuu rumbled. “I didn’t have the time to take a bath.”

“I didn’t have the time to even brush my teeth or change my underwear, dattebayo,” Naruto replied.

“Wait-what? That is so gross, ssu.” Fuu stepped away from the blonde, giving him a look of disgust. She may not have the time for a bath but she was still neat and at least clean.

Gaara took a bath himself last night. Water was so scarce in Suna that it was very common for people to not take a bath for days. There is even a time limit on how long you are in the shower since you have to save what water was allocated in each household. This was the first time he was able to actually bathe in a bathtub.

“What is this place?” Naruto grumbled, staring at the entrance of their meeting place. The place was surrounded by tall metal fences with large trees and it looked very dark and creepy. They were all meeting in Gate 5 (apparently there were a lot of gates to choose from this place). Naruto and Fuu did not like the sounds emanating from the forest. When Han-sensei said survival exercise, this looks a bit extreme, doesn’t it?

“I thought you knew this place. You’re the one who lived here, ssu.” Fuu said.

Naruto frowned. “I do. But I’ve never been to every place in the village. I even asked where this training ground is. This guy with the senbon actually asked me if I have a death wish or something. I didn’t know there was a place like this in Konoha. Why does sensei want to test us here, dattebayo…what are you doing?”

Naruto and Gaara watched Fuu as she kneeled and placed her ear on the ground. The two boys glanced at each other before looking back at Fuu. Fuu stood up. “There are some weird animals in there, ssu.”

“Good observation.” The three genin almost jumped. Gaara stared at his new sensei in shock. How did he? I didn’t even sense him!

“Don’t do that sensei, dattebayo!” Naruto cried.

“If this wasn't a training exercise and I am your enemy, you'd be dead by now whiskers," Han said.

Naruto pouted, and Fuu and Gaara just stared at their new sensei with a mix of awe, curiosity, and cautiousness.

"Besides, as a shinobi. You must always be on guard. One wrong move and you could get killed. It doesn’t matter how strong you are a shinobi; a weak one can still kill you if you don’t watch out." Han continued.

What’s up with that life lesson? Fuu thought while the two boys looked at their sensei in confusion.

"Right now, I was given special permission to use this place for our test. This is training ground 44 but from what I heard, they call this place the forest of death."

"Death?"Naruto and Fuu gulped. Gaara was stoic. Death was a good word for him especially when there was lots of blood in it.

“Apparently, this is a popular place to do the chuunin exams,” Han mumbled. Han opened the gates and the three genin followed their sensei cautiously until they reached a clearing with a tree stump.

“This is set until noon,” Han said and took out a scroll from his pockets. “I have one scroll with me and two more that I hid within this forest. There is a thirty-mile perimeter I created so you won’t get further into the forest and get lost (although that would have been fun,I don’t want the Hokage killing me because my students died getting mauled by a beast in here. He may be a Jinchuuriki but a Kage is a Kage). The student who doesn’t get the scroll within the allotted time fails and gets no lunch…” Three stomachs growls echoed in the forest.

Han grinned. At least the brats followed instructions. That rule was just a test of common sense. He will remind the three to never go out on an empty stomach. A ninja needs the necessary nutrients especially when faced with battle. Chakra needs energy and they can get energy through food. “Getting the scrolls is easy, but getting there would be the hardest part. I placed booby traps around the forest; there are also man-eating animals, insects and plants in here so watch out, especially those flying leeches.”

“Flying leeches?!” Naruto cringed as he looked up at the sky.

“You also have the right to fight me for the scroll, but you have to defeat me to get it.”

“So, to pass, all three of us must have a scroll, ssu?” Fuu asked. That means, two they can get, and one of them will probably have to fight their sensei to get the third scroll. Obviously, as genin, they don’t have that much ability to defeat a jounin that easily. Still, they know very little about their sensei to know what the man is capable of.

 “Yes. Are you…” Han never finished his sentence when an orange blur came charging after him. Han blocked his kick.

“Impatient aren’t you?”

“Huh?... AHHHHHH! OW! OW!” Naruto screamed as he jumped off from Han-sensei and clutched his now smoking leg. Steam is now penetrating out of Han’s armor.

“Now, I didn’t say it was going to be easy,” Han said. “If you wish to defeat me, aim to kill, or you’ll never get the scroll.”

“Kill huh?” Gaara muttered.

Kill that armor-wearing bastard! Shukaku screamed at Gaara.

Kukou who was just sleeping opened one eye. Seriously, Shukaku? He thought. And went back to sleep.

But he has a Boil Style. Gaara thought. Kekkei Genkai are rare but they are always technically deadly. Gaara’s sand may be considered a Kekkei Genkai but magnet release is such a variety that there isn’t a commonality among them. Some of them strong and some of them weak and apparently, Gaara’s form is weaker than the gold dust and iron sand possessed by the former and current Kazekage. For now, he ignored Shukaku.

Great. I’m looking for those scrolls, ssu. Fuu thought. I am not dying today.

“You ready?" Han asked. "Go!” and the genin scattered…all but one. Han could feel his eyes twitching. “You’re an odd one aren’t you?"

“I’M GOING TO KICK YOUR BUTT, DATTEBAYO!” Naruto yelled.

He’s not listening. Han’s sweat dropped.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” And the boy charged at him with a battle cry.

Good jutsu but he's an idiot. Han sighed.

“What a baka, ssu!” Fuu hissed under her hiding place.

Gaara could feel his lips twitching. This is my teammate? He watched as the orange-clad shinobi charged towards their sensei with a kunai. He rolled his eyes and walked further into the forest. One of these days, I'm going to kill that idiot. He ignored the blonde who was now flying towards the sky with his hands clutched on his bum.

*****

Han sat cross-legged near the stump drinking a cup of tea. He has been observing his students for a while now. It’s hard for them to hide their presence that easily. Gaara has shown the most promise in that area but Han can still feel the kid. Masking chakra is always often a challenge for many Jinchuuriki in the beginning because of their large chakra reserves, chakra control has always been a challenge. He also noticed that the boy was severely lacking in taijutsu skills, speed, and strength. It seems he is neglecting that portion and his skills are too reliant on his sand which means if faced with opponents that can make sand weaker, he would be vulnerable.

Also, he noticed that out of all the three, Fuu seems to be the most trained. Her Taijutsu skills, chakra control, and even a good elemental ninjutsu on water. Which makes sense since she’s from Taki. Han wondered why the girl had a much darker complexion which is commonly found in either Suna or Kumo. Skin tone like that is rare in Taki – at least as far as Han knows. Also, the girl wasn’t lying. She could fly! She has wings almost like a dragonfly. That makes sense since she’s a nanabi jinchuuriki which is said to be a bug or some sort.

As for Naruto. Where will he start? Chakra control? No. Taijutsu? No. Ninjutsu? Only shadow clones. Chakra reserve? Very vast but not properly utilized. So, he needs the most work out of all of them. Back to basics in his opinion. What was the Hokage thinking? Even if he claims that he wants the boy to choose whether he wants to be a shinobi or not, the boy’s fate has already changed the moment the Kyuubi is sealed in the boy, and leaving him untrained is more dangerous, especially for Naruto himself. He will be an easy target for those who want or hate him. Sometimes he wondered if this was intentional. Making the poor boy so weak that he is not seen as a threat. Whatever. If Jiraiya has anything to come by with this Akatsuki thing, then leaving him weak would be a disservice to the sacrifices he made.

Han also noticed that the animals around the area were avoiding the four of them like the plague. Does their status as Jinchuuriki have something to do with it? The Hokage explained to Han that the previous Kyuubi Jinchuuriki released her chakra in the forest to release some steam. The incident caused many of the animals, insects, and plants to mutate. This is why Training Ground 44 is the perfect place for them because it masks their Bijuu chakra from the ones around it, especially in situations where one of them loses control and releases some chakra. It will also prevent panic from everyone else.

Han was also furious with the Hokage, the former Mizukage, and the perverted Master Jiraiya of the Sannin. If the Akatsuki is looking for Jinchuuriki, they would find it easier to capture all four of them in one go. Plus, the level of chakra they also possess is overkill. Even his idiotic orange-clad student can cause as much damage as he could, trained or not.

Unlike the three, Han doesn't possess any markings that tell him as a Jinchuuriki which makes it easier for him to hide. The Gobi was sealed in him when he was five years old and he inherited the boil style along with it. It was different with his students. All three absorb the Bijuu chakra since they are still fetuses. Fuu and Naruto’s mother were Jinchuuriki as he was told. Though, unlike Naruto, he does not know Fuu’s mother’s name. This is why the girl has wings and Naruto has whiskers. Gaara got him because the Bijuu was sealed into him while his mother was pregnant. This wasn't very common knowledge since many Shinobi have tattoos or any form of body alterations.

Gaara was the first to trigger the traps. While the boy's sand defense is impenetrable it didn't do well with water or lava. Han wanted to laugh when the boy was sucked into a cave full of water. The red-head was pissed off. One of the lavas also crystallized the sand making them useless as they could no longer move. He would do well in the desert or areas with access to soil and dirt but anywhere else, he is at a disadvantage.

Han also read the report about the redhead’s instability. He can't blame him. Being betrayed by your uncle and his father tried to kill him. He was freaking six! Who does that to a kid? The kids also have no one to lean on. Han may hate everyone but he always has Roshi (until he defected), Fuu has the Taki leader, Shibuki (whom Han received many threatening letters about the consequences if anything happened to his little girl. Seriously?) and Naruto has Iruka, whom Han just recently met. The guy even threatened to castrate him if something happened to Naruto. He thought it was laughable since the guy was only Chuunin but the look Iruka gave him gave him shivers. Han has to keep reminding himself that he was just a Chuunin, not the freaking Hokage.

Naruto was a completely different story. You would have thought the kid’s a genius knowing who his parents are (Han knows Naruto’s mother but it was easy to tell the boy’s father. How many spiky blondes are there in Konoha?). Instead, the boy winds up as the village idiot. His training in the academy was sabotaged by previous senseis except for Iruka who found out that no one taught Naruto how to read, three years before the graduation year. It would also explain the boy’s terrible Taijutsu (because his practical sensei was Mizuki) and his lack of concentration gave him terrible chakra control.

However, the boy is a chakra powerhouse having both the Uzumaki bloodline and Kyuubi. The shadow clones were proof of that. Even a Jinchuuriki like himself can only make fifty while this boy can create a hundred repeatedly and he wasn’t even winded. But everything else, the boy is completely lacking. Han sighed when he heard the blonde scream when one of the traps hung him upside down. He even falls easily into the simplest traps.

*****

“I don’t think Han-sensei hid any scrolls at all, ssu!” Fuu growled as she hastily removed leaves and twigs from her hair. She hates those plants. She’s going to learn some fire jutsus so she can burn them all! Carnivorous plants do tend to eat insects and Fuu suspected that they thought she was one too. Fuu has always had a talent regarding insects and she has used them to find the scroll which makes it easier to explore the forest but none of the insects found anything.

Gaara wasn’t happy either. No, he wanted to kill his sensei for harming his precious sand! Shukaku was stirring angrily and the boy had to grab his head to retain control. He can’t go all out at the moment as much as he wants to. He has the distinct feeling that his sensei did not hide any scrolls anywhere. He would have figured it out earlier but the lava traps and that freaking water caused his delays.

Thirty minutes left. None of the genin came after him. Not one of them figured it out? Han thought until he saw a large wave of sand heading straight at him. I spoke too soon. Gaara’s sand was too easy. When Han released his steam, the sand turned soggy and muddy to the redhead’s frustration. This also indicates that Gaara was the only long-range shinobi on the team.

“Nice try kid,” Han said.

Gaara turns around completely shocked. He’s fast!

“Too slow.” A hand grabbed Gaara at his ankles and pulled him to the ground, leaving only his head.

“Hidden Waterfall Hurricane!” Fuu threw a hard kick. Han managed to duck and retaliate but Fuu was fast enough to dodge it. Fuu then attacks Han with a flurry of punches and kicks, careful not to touch the heated armor. She even reached for the scroll but Han managed to grab her hand. When Fuu jumped away, Han tried to follow but he couldn’t. The sand was creeping up his legs, immobilizing him.

“SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!” his orange-clad student came after him with at least twenty clones. The boy needs to learn not to shout his jutsus!

RING! RING! RING! RING! They stopped.

“Drats!” Fuu cried in frustration.

“Oh man!” Naruto groaned.

“Time is up,” Han said calmly as the sand on his legs turned into mud. “By the rules of this exercise, you all failed!”

Naruto and Fuu dropped their heads in disappointment. Gaara growled in frustration and it wasn’t about the failure. He did not like being sucked into the ground like that. Not at all! This exercise is testing his limits.

"What do you think is the purpose of this exercise?" Han asked.

"Completing a mission?" Naruto replied.

"Survival?" Fuu said it's a survival exercise after all.

Gaara shrugged.

“It’s TEAMWORK!” Han declared.

“Wha?” Naruto and Fuu looked at their sensei in disbelief.

“You should have noticed this from the start,” Han explained. “You are genin. Whether you are the most powerful in your village or not, no genin can win against a jounin, especially an S-class one. This doesn’t mean you can’t win. I have already explained to you earlier how even the weakest are capable of winning a fight against someone strong based mostly on the element of surprise but the chances of winning are still low. You do have a higher chance of winning against a formidable foe when working together. This is why shinobis has to work in teams.”

“So…if we work together, we can defeat you?” Naruto asked.

“Probably not,” Han said proudly earning a frown from the blonde. “But you have a higher chance. Even at the last bit of the time you were able to immobilize me and would have taken at least one scroll if you haven’t run out of time. Granted, that was unintentional than intentional teamwork.”

“But you said…” Fuu began.

“A shinobi needs to analyze, think critically, and strategize. Brute strength can only take you nowhere if you don’t know how to use it. I can’t believe your village allowed you to be shinobi…”

“But sensei…” Naruto whined.

“No buts!” Han hissed. “This exercise was designed to help me measure where you are at what you are capable of and whether or not you can work as a team. You have the skill but lack the teamwork. You should also know that there were no other scrolls in the forest. Even if you can’t find one you could have worked together as a team to get all three if it was possible. I am within my wits to just fail you right now and send you back to your villages!”

All three genin looked down and wouldn’t even look him in the eye.

"Anyway, for this program, I am giving the three of you another chance." This caught the genin's interest. "You can try to get the scroll after lunch. However, the outcome of this exercise shows that Fuu was the only person who showed the most effort. She was the only person who came this close to getting the scroll." Han said. "Because of that, she's the only one to eat lunch today."

"What? That's kind of mean!" Naruto countered.

Han glared at the boy. "Naruto, you keep falling for the most basic traps that I wanted to tie you up the stump and let you watch Fuu eat.”

"What?" Naruto groaned. That was even meaner.

Han took out a bento and gave it to Fuu. "Here's your lunch. Also, if you share your lunch with your teammates, you fail immediately." And Han’s body flickered out of there.

"Oh man!" Naruto lay down on the ground clutching his stomach. " I am so hungry."

Gaara who is also hungry sat cross-legged on the ground with his back on the stump. That man is going up my list. He thought. The redhead shivered at the thought of his sibling to know what happened to him. Will the outcome of this exercise be reported to the Kazekage?

Fuu, on the other hand, was sitting there staring at her food.

Naruto who noticed that Fuu didn’t touch her food asked, “What’s wrong Fuu? Something wrong with it?

Fuu curled her lip. “No, ssu.” She glanced at her two teammates. Shibuki’s voice penetrated her mind. Many people will always misunderstand you. But you must always hold the people around you dear and do your best for these people. If you do…(Then, I’ll have a hundred friends?)...Uh, yeah…

“Here, ssu!” Both boys opened their eyes and stared at the rice cakes Fuu placed in front of them.

“Eh, Fuu. You can’t! You heard what sensei said. You’ll fail, dattebayo.” Naruto said despite the growling from his stomach.

“Doesn’t matter. If we do fail, at least we could be friends!” Fuu said cheerfully.

“Huh?” Naruto and Gaara stared at her. What kind of explanation is that? Gaara thought. A friend? Naruto pondered.

“Besides, I don’t think all three of us will do very well if two of you are hungry! Sensei did say this exercise is about teamwork, ssu!”

Naruto’s stomach growled again. “She’s right,” Gaara said. Both his teammates looked at him. “We are already drained from our earlier exercise and that was without breakfast. Without food, we’ll be easy prey”. He didn’t particularly like it when Sensei almost buried him in the ground even though Gaara likes burying people with his sand.

There was a long pause. “What?” Gaara asked, slightly annoyed when he noticed the two were still staring at him.

“You know, this is the first time you spoke to us in long sentences, ssu,” Fuu said.

“I agree dattebayo!” Naruto replied. “You usually grunt and shrug and well – anything else.”

Gaara frowned, took the rice cake, and began to eat. Naruto and Fuu followed suit when BOOM! A cloud of smoke burst in front of them. All three genins jumped and prepared themselves in case of an attack but Han-sensei stood in front, hands on the hips and leaning at them. “YOU!...pass.”

“What?/Huh?” Naruto and Fuu looked in shock.

There was a long pause before any of the genin broke the silence. “Eh? We did?” Naruto exclaimed.

“But…but…” Fuu stammered completely confused.

Han sighed and sat cross-legged. His genin still confused followed and sat in front of him. “Listen. Being shinobi isn’t a glamorous one. Whatever your reason may be, be it aiming for friends, being regarded as a hero, or wanting to kill people, it doesn’t matter. A shinobi is nothing more but a tool to be used to complete missions, even if they have to lie, cheat, torture, kill, or worse.” Han said.

“What’s worse than torture and killing?” Naruto asked.

Han stared at the blonde. “Betrayal.”

This caught Gaara’s attention. “Betrayal is the only thing in the world that hurts so much, you want to die. And as shinobi, this is a very common trend.”

“It is?” Fuu asked.

“Fuu, your mission is to get the scroll, correct?” Han asked and Fuu nodded. Han immediately grabbed Naruto by surprise and placed a kunai at his neck. “Fuu, you can have the scroll but I have to kill Naruto.”

“EH?” Fuu froze and Gaara was taken aback by it.

Han let the boy go. “What was that for sensei, dattebayo?!”

“If your mission is to get the scroll but to get it one of your teammates has to die, what would you do?”

“Eh? How could you ask for such a thing, sensei!?” Naruto yelled, Fuu looked conflicted while Gaara stared at the man.

“Get the scroll,” Gaara answered.

“WHAT?!” Naruto turned toward his red-haired teammate in shock. “You’d let me die, dattebayo?”

“Our mission is to get the scroll.” Gaara glared at Naruto. “A shinobi’s priority is their mission. Everything else is unnecessary.”

Naruto looked like he was going to reply but Han beat him to it. “Most of the shinobi will agree with you.” He said

“Most?” Gaara looked at his sensei in confusion.

“Some shinobi believed that your comrades are worth more than the mission itself,” Han answered. “They’d rather fail their mission than let their comrades die.”

What? Gaara frowned confusingly. What kind of nonsense is this? If a shinobi fails

“Naruto, what did you feel when Gaara chose the scroll over you?” Han asked, a bit amused right now.

“Angry!” Naruto scowled. “He’s my teammate, we always have our backs, even if we don’t like each other, dattebayo.”

“Yes, but you are forgetting Naruto. That Gaara is not a Konoha shinobi. History has shown that even among allies, shinobis will betray each other one day.” Han said. He knew this was a possibility. Sooner or later, their leaders will use them to pit each other in a fight. Iwa has suffered the most regarding alliances which is why their Tsuchikage is very against any alliance since then. It’s also why he hated Konoha for the village was the first to betray them despite the agreement.

“You see an old coot once told me that all we have is each other.” Han looked up at the sky. “He believed that as shinobi we are not tools to be used and discarded when no longer needed. A mission is a mission, a shinobi who fails their mission is trash but discarding your teammates like broken tools means you are worse than trash. ”

Of course, we are not, ssu! Fuu thought with conviction then her confidence wavered when he remembered one of her teachers told her that she was nothing more but a tool to be used for the sake of the village. That is why the Nanabi was sealed in her. A tool to be used. Look where it got her. No friends (except for Shibuki but she treats him like a brother more than anything) and the village council refuses to let her wander outside the village. Besides that teacher of hers attacked and killed their village leader and became missing-nin.

That’s why Naruto wanted to be Hokage. So people would respect him and see him as nobody else but the Kyuubi. What Han-sensei was a little close to home. A tool to be used and discarded when not needed? I’ll prove it sensei! We are not tools!

Gaara stared at his new sensei with a conflicted look in his eyes. A tool? This is why he kills. It validates his existence. He is a tool. Now he feels a little confused.

“By the way, the Hokage has named this place as our official training ground,” Han said. After all, the Bijuu chakra that caused the mutation among the creatures here is a good cover for them.

“Whhhaaaaatttt?” Fuu whined, glaring at the trees. She does not want to get grabbed and eaten by those plants again. She’ll find a way to burn them!

“There isn’t going to be any of your traps in here, right?” Naruto asked.

Han thought about the traps that you fell so easily? with a twitch on his hidden face. “That’s for you to find out.”

Naruto groaned. “We will meet again tomorrow at eight and not a minute later.” And the four left the training ground. Han has to make sure to lock up. The last thing he wants is for the crazy dango fishnet lady to come after him. Konoha has the weirdest and scariest women he has ever met.