The Joint Shinobi Selection

Tenzo crouched on a tree branch near the entrance of Konoha as he watched his new charges: Uzumaki Naruto, Sabaku no Gaara, and Fuu as the three genins waited for their sensei and their client for their first C-rank mission.

Tenzo and all the Anbu were aware of the situation of the four people on this team. Some of them were assigned to watch the genins and their sensei regularly. Although Tenzo has to relieve the previous Anbu to take over this team. There was a reason for it. It’s because of his Mokuton. If something goes awry, he will be able to stop them when necessary.

So far, the program has been doing well. None of the outside participants did anything suspicious but it doesn’t mean they’ll just relax. They’re shinobi and shinobi are cunning people and know when to lay low and then strike when you least expect it. Even though Taki, Suna, and Kiri are now Konoha’s allies, this doesn’t guarantee long-term peace between the villages. Sooner or later, one of them will betray the other, and sadly, Tenzo admits, that Konoha has its fair share of doing the betraying.

Tenzo does hope that this program will be successful. It is one small step towards peace and although he is happy to be a shinobi, all the fighting and having to keep an eye on your back is tiring and stressful. And he is still hopeful despite meeting the other teams. Zabuza was a very scary man and Pakura had distrust in her eyes but they functioned well with their students. Darui has the top team in the program (at least by far). They didn’t need any heavy training since they were all well-trained already to the envy of the other senseis. This is why Darui’s team managed to finish a B-rank mission yesterday. No jounin like to be assigned to genin teams because it means having to deal with D-rank missions for a year or two.

What Tenzo was shocked the most was the fact that the Hokage was able to hide this very critical and dangerous secret from everyone. Who knew that right here there is a team composed of Jinchuuriki inside their village? He does not want to think what would happen if all four of them would release their Bijuu. Tenzo may be able to suppress a Jinchuuriki, especially during its earlier stages but never four at once.

“Sensei’s late, dattebayo! He’s never late!” Naruto said as he looked around. Fuu was too busy chasing some butterflies near the gate so she couldn’t comment on him. Naruto knew Gaara wouldn’t reply to him. The boy just stared at some trees. Naruto frowned and tapped his foot impatiently.

Just then, Naruto saw Han-sensei walking toward them accompanied by a rather chubby man with almost balding black hair. He looked like in his late fifties. He has an apologetic smile on his face and is carrying two large bags with him.

“You’re late sensei!” Naruto pointed at Han.

Han glared at his student. “I went to pick up our client.” Han gestured to the man he accompanied. Although picking him up was an understatement. Han went there just to find the man still asleep. Han has to wake the man up, help him pack, and even wait for him to finish his routine. The man has completely forgotten that he was leaving the village today. What a weird guy.

The client gave a soft laugh while rubbing the back of his head. “I am so sorry! It was my fault your sensei was late. I completely forgot that I was leaving the village today.”

“Everybody this is our client, Kurame Buchi.” Han introduced.

Naruto sniggered. “His name is Buchi.” He whispered to Gaara.

“Naruto. You are named after food.” Gaara said stoically. Naruto huffed and glared at Gaara.

Gaara didn’t know anything about ramen until Naruto grabbed him and Fuu to a ramen shop almost every day. Ramen was not a common staple in the Sand village after all. Still, Gaara had never seen anybody who could eat that much ramen in one sitting. That’s how he learned about the fishcake or Naruto as the ramen shop owner told him when he found out that Gaara had never had ramen in his life and started introducing the many options Gaara could choose from.

“Kurame-san, these are my students, Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara, and Fu-where’s Fuu?”

Naruto and Gaara looked around. “She was right here a minute ago,” Naruto said.

Gaara pointed at one of the trees and there was Fuu, gliding along. “FUU! We’re on a mission! Get down!” Han yelled.

“Awwww.” Fuu pouted. “Bye-bye!” she waved at the tiny newly hatched birds on the tree and dropped down.

“My, my. I was surprised to see an Iwa shinobi who fetched me when I issued a mission for Konoha.” Kurame-san commented.

“Is that a problem?” Naruto asked, anxiously. Naruto noticed how wary the Konoha citizens and even most of the shinobi were about their sensei. Han-sensei gave him a book on shinobi wars (to his annoyance) when he asked why. But Naruto finally understood a little about the problem.

He still could not understand why people were still adamant about staying in the past. Han-sensei may be a sadistic bastard sometimes but he trained and interacted with Naruto well and granted he likes that he gives attention to him and is willing to train him unlike many of his teachers at the academy. The only person who treats Naruto this way is Iruka-sensei and Teuchi-jiji.

“No. No.” the man answered. “I was just surprised that’s all. Iwa and Konoha are not very close. It’s nice to know they are trying to work things together and from the looks of it, not just Iwa.”

“Alright. Let’s go. We are pressed for time already.” Han said. “We are using the diamond formation today. I’m at the back, Gaara at the front, Fuu and Naruto left and right, and our client in the middle.”

“Hai.” They all agreed and left the village.

*****

It would take them at least three days to travel to the Land of Waterfall and another day to reach the boundary with the Land of Earth where Iwa shinobi will be waiting for the client to escort him inside their country. Normally, it would be faster if they go through the Land of Grass but ever since the third shinobi war, the Kannabi bridge was no longer available. It was destroyed by Minato because at the time it was a key route of supplies for Iwagakure.

Normally, as a long-distance shinobi, Gaara should be at the back of the formation but because of his automatic ultimate defense, he can immediately shield any attack at the front. Naruto and Fuu are fast on their feet so they can move any attack on any side. Han used this formation mainly as a way to keep an eye on the genin. Because if he was at the front, he wouldn’t notice Fuu just running off somewhere or Naruto probably doing something idiotic.

Their client is very talkative about himself and his trade. He sells fine silk and garments to known families around different countries. He was also mugged four times and that’s why he hired protection from different shinobi villages whenever he traveled. Han thinks it is a miracle the man is still in business. But when he runs out of stories about himself, the man begins asking questions about all of them.

It annoyed Han because he hates it when people ask questions about himself. They are shinobi. It is best to keep things mysterious even to their clients. It doesn’t help that the man pesters him about his mask, and his armor and tries to get him to share his life. When the man felt like Han wouldn’t budge to answer, he turned his attention to his students.

Han has to stop Gaara from crushing the client when the man asks what’s up with his tattoo. Han already knew about the tattoo after reading the boy’s file and it was not a pleasant memory. Even Naruto, the team resident’s friendly and happy-go-lucky member was not happy when the client pointed out his whisker marks or what had been so weird looking. “I am not that weird-looking!” Naruto hissed.

The males in the group had to push their client towards Fuu who wasn’t fazed at all by the questions and answered them like they were having a normal conversation. Han has always thought the girl lacked some social skills due to his sheltered upbringing but for some reason, she knows how to answer questions without giving things away about herself too much. Despite being similar in personality to Naruto, Fuu is still more intelligent.

While Kurame and Fuu were busy arguing about colors (how they get to colors, they’ll never know), Naruto approached Han. “Hey, Han-sensei.”

“What?” Han asked without removing his sight from the road.

“Can we take a picture as a team, dattebayo?”

Han paused and stared confusingly at his student. “A picture? What for?”

“I want a picture of us as a team! Me, Gaara, Fuu and you, dattebayo!” Naruto said cheerfully. “I even saw Shikamaru and his team framed theirs!”

Han raised one of his eyebrows. Naruto always points out people Han doesn’t know about but he never said that to the knucklehead. “You want to take a picture because you don’t want to be left out?” Han was confused about this.

Han knows that in Konoha, it was some sort of a tradition for rookie genins and their sensei to have a picture as a team. Han found out about it accidentally when he was in a bar and heard a group of shinobi leading teams about how they had fulfilled their tradition of having framed pictures of their first team.

This tradition is not common in other shinobi villages. After all, first teams never last long. Also, it was rare for them to be attached to anybody even if it was their sensei or their own best friend. Most shinobi (except from prominent families) never bothered with it out of fear their enemies would find out about their loved ones and use them against them. Even the teams in the program didn’t do it at all.

Naruto was about to reply but Gaara piped in. “It’s meaningless.” They all become quiet and turn to the redhead that they know rarely talks.

“Why?” Naruto asked.

“Pictures don’t make you strong. It doesn’t validate your existence. So, it’s meaningless.” Gaara replied not even looking at them. 

“Eh?” Naruto raised his eyebrows, completely confused about what Gaara just said.

“What do you think makes someone strong, Gaara?” Han asked, curious about how the redhead viewed the world.

“To kill to validate my existence. Let them fear and know me through that.” Gaara muttered.

Naruto, Fuu, and Kurame froze on the spot. “I…see,” Han commented and continued to walk. Gaara stared at his sensei and Tenzo, somewhere in the trees felt a slight cold on the back of his neck.

“Well, I think a picture is a great idea, ssu!” Fuu flew between Naruto and Gaara. Even though the minty-haired haired was a little wary of the redhead, she turned towards him and spoke. “But if you think about it, a picture is like a memory preserved in a beautiful frame, ssu! And people will see it and know about it and even if you die, people from future generations will know that you have lived, ssu!” Fuu twirled happily. “Wouldn’t knowing that you exist to validate your existence?.”

Gaara paused and blinked at Fuu. What?

“Really?” Naruto piped happily. “Then everyone will know that the three of us are friends, dattebayo!”

Friends? Gaara and Fuu turned to Naruto.

He thinks of me as a friend? Gaara thought astonished by the idea.

Don’t be foolish! No one will love you! He’ll betray you just like all the others.

Though Mother’s words made sense, Gaara couldn’t help this odd feeling but he decided to let it be for now.

“So, sensei?” Naruto turned to the tall man.

“Fine.” Han sighed. “We’ll take a picture once we get back to the village”

“YEY!” Fuu and Naruto cried cheerfully.

“Get back to guarding our client!” Han said ignoring Naruto mumbling about how Han takes the fun out of everything.

*****

When nightfall came, they set up camp, got a fire started, and sat around it. Han began talking about a watch rotation over their client.

“I don’t sleep,” Gaara stated. “I can watch you all night.”

“Eh?” Naruto looked at Gaara in disbelief. “Yeah, right. Everybody sleeps, dattebayo!”

“If you don’t sleep, how are you still alive, ssu?” Fuu asked.

“Why don’t you try sleeping?” Kurame-san asked.

Gaara gave their client a cold stare. “If you want to die, then I will sleep.”

Kurame gulped at the redhead’s comment. He always finds this boy very intimidating even though he is just a child. He recalls what he said back on the road about killing to verify his existence.

Naruto eyed Gaara. He’s just trying to look stronger than us. Well, I’ll show him. “I can watch you all night too sensei!”

“NO,” Han said with his hands on his hips. “Kurame-san, please sleep ahead. We will discuss this matter with ourselves.” Han waited until their client fell asleep in a sleeping bag when he continued.

“I am aware of your chronic insomnia, Gaara,” Han said. Gaara simply raised his non-existent eyebrows and wondered if his sensei was aware of his other condition. “I still don’t want you to guard the whole night by yourself.” Han also thought that it wasn’t a good idea to have an unstable psychopath guarding you in your most vulnerable time.

“I know you tried meditation.” Han continued. “If meditation doesn’t work, you are allowed to take a walk to clear your head but don’t stray too far. Also…” Han removed a book from his armor.

“Do ever run out of books, sensei?” Naruto asked incredulously.

Han ignored the orange-clad genin and handed Gaara the book entitled The Geology of the Great Five. “…you may read this. I know you finished the Geochemistry book I loaned you.”

Gaara accepted the book. Naruto cringed at it. He hasn’t finished the book about chakra enhancement from sensei. He groaned at the thought of their next training exercise and the extra laps he would have to do if he got a question wrong.

“Why do we have to watch in pairs, ssu?” Fuu asked. It gave them a lot longer sleeping hours if they watched individually than in pairs and Fuu loved to sleep.

“Because you’ll probably chase a bunch of fireflies instead of guarding and Naruto will not stay awake during his watch,” Han replied, his eyebrows twitching.

“Hey!” Naruto felt insulted. “I will so be awake in my watch sensei, dattebayo!”

The first watch was done by Gaara and Fuu. Han knew the Anbu was the only person on this team who would probably not sleep at all. Gaara took a short walk during the second watch. Han smelled blood on the boy when he returned. He just hoped no one died and that the blood was from a random animal. So, the boy decided to just sit next to the open fire and read.

 Naruto approached his sensei in the middle of their watch. “Han-sensei, I have a question, dattebayo?”

“What is it?” Han asked.

“Why did Gaara say that the only way to prove his existence is to kill, dattebayo?” He asked curiously.

“Maybe you should ask him?”

“Ehhhh. But Gaara will probably crush me with sand and bathe in my blood as what he always says, dattebayo.” Naruto whined and then mumbled. It seems he has gotten used to the way Gaara talks to them and he thinks it’s normal by this point. “He needs to learn to speak something else.”

Han chuckled. “As a shinobi, killing is part of our life.”

“So, the more people you kill, the stronger you are?” The boy asks. Han wanted to pinch his nose. Why is this boy so innocent and idealistic?

“I’m a strong shinobi who killed many Naruto and there are shinobi out there who are stronger than me and have killed less.” Han paused. “Why did you become a shinobi?” Han knew that as a Jinchuuriki, fate was already set for them to become shinobi even if they didn’t want to.

However, in Naruto’s case, the Hokage has given the boy a choice to be a shinobi or not which is unheard of and a completely stupid decision. Jinchuuriki carries heavy burdens. They will always be targeted and leaving the boy defenseless was idiotic. It didn’t help nobody had properly taken care of his needs or trained him properly.

“Because they are strong and awesome and can do amazing jutsus! They can get missions and fight bad guys! It’s my first step to be Hokage, so people can recognize me, dattebayo!”

Is that what they teach in Konoha? Han stared at Naruto in shock. Han may deny it but Konoha (and Kumo) is the strongest of the five in terms of military power, talent, and their economy but still, what Konoha preaches is naivety to the next generation.

“There is nothing glamorous in being a shinobi Naruto,” Han said firmly. “Fighting bad guys and taking on missions? Not very likely. Shinobi fight, steal, kill, torture, and even betray each other for the sake of their village. That is why shinobi villages don’t like each other.”

“Huh? Why?” Naruto lay on the grass and stared at the night sky. “We are doing well as a team and we came from different villages.”

“For now, Naruto,” Han said. “There are many things we could not control like history, feuds, grudges, contrast of beliefs, egoistic leaders who think of us as tools…” Han didn’t want to tell Naruto yet of the possibility that their leaders might use them to pit each other once they turned Chuunin. A joint shinobi selection program is one thing but for the sake of their village? The outcome may not be daisies and sunshine.

Han turned to find Naruto sleeping on the grass. “WAKE UP DAMN YOU!” And a loud whack is heard

*****

They finally reached the bridge between the Land of Waterfall and the Land of Earth. Fuu was very excited since her village was nearby.

“Ohhhh. We should visit the village. I would introduce you to everyone, especially Shibuki-sama!” Fuu said excitedly.

“I don’t think we have the time to go to your village Fuu,” Han said. Although as a member of the Joint Shinobi Selection program, they can also get missions from Taki if they want to. But for now, they have to focus on reaching their destination. They were already late as it is. No thanks to their client.

The man was a piece of work. He went behind a tree to piss but he got lost! How he got lost was the question! They were right there! Fuu got lost as well which gave Han a massive headache. The girl has a weird sense of direction. Those Iwa shinobi must be pissed off by now.

When they reached the clearing, they could see four Iwa shinobi standing impatiently near the cliff and the bridge. Han could see tick marks on their heads ready to blow off. Han was a bit amused at the thought when they found out who was leading their mission.

Han immediately recognized the jounin, Monga. A large, bulky man with tanned skin, and blue lines under his eyes, and wears a red bandana to hide his bald head. He may not be as tall as Han but he was bigger in muscle structure (without the armor), especially along the arms. Iwa was known to produce really large and bulky men. He wondered if there was something in the water. Han does not recognize the three genins along with him. He almost snorted. So, they wind up with genins this year.

“Finally!” Monga said exasperatedly. “You Konoha shinobi are…” Monga never finished his sentence. He caught sight of Han and was almost taken aback when faced by the large Gobi Jinchuuriki. “Wha-uh, Han-sama?”.

“Sama?” Naruto and Fuu both whispered in confusion. They have never heard anybody be so formal to their sensei before.

“Monga,” Han said nodded. “We’re sorry we’re late.” Han eyed Kurame who was grinning reluctantly and rubbing one of his hands on the back of his head.

“I would apologize for the lateness. It was my fault.” Kurame-san said. “I got lost while trying to pee.”

Monga and the Iwa genin stared at the client like he was crazy… “I am Monga. These are my students, Mitsu (a tall boy with unruly black hair with a pair of glasses), Natsu (a tanned spiky-haired boy with sharp facial features), and Rukabachi (a girl with light brown hair and was the only one not wearing the Iwa issued shinobi uniform and Han noticed a few bees buzzing around her and assumed she is from the Kamizuru clan).

The Iwa genin were all staring at Han anxiously and kept glancing between him and their sensei. Han has always hated that look. Monga who didn’t want to rile Han up gave a reluctant smile. “I wasn’t aware you were on this mission, Han-sama.” He said a little flustered.

The last Monga and most of the Iwa knew was that Han was sent by the Tsuchikage along with two other genins (including the Onoki-sama’s granddaughter) to participate in this new program initiated by the alliance between Konoha, Suna, and Kiri. It was both a relief and a shock. Compared to Roshi, Han has a much scarier reputation. Monga turned his eyes on the three genin with Han. He wanted to salute them for being able to withstand the presence of the tall, armored, and monster of a man.

“Well, this ends our service,” Han said and a paper appeared on his hand. “Please sign here.”

“Ah, yes, yes.” Kurame nodded as he signed the completion form.

“If you have no questions, we will take our leave.” Han immediately turned and walked away leaving a speechless client and confused genins. That was so sudden. They thought but the Iwa shinobi took a sigh of relief. Han is their shinobi but he is intimidating. Although a lot of Iwa shinobi look at their Jinchuuriki with hate and fear they normally just keep to themselves and keep away from them most of the time.

“Bye-bye, Kurame-san!” Fuu waved as she and her teammates hurried after their sensei.

“Thank you so much Han-san, Fuu-san, Naruto-kun and Gaara-kun! I hope I’ll meet you again!” Kurame-san waved back as Han and his group started to leave without waiting for any replies from the Iwa shinobi.

 “Huh? Wait, that’s it?” Naruto said.

“I told you most of the time nothing happens,” Han replied.

“Ah, man. I thought C-rank was supposed to be fun.” Naruto pouted.

“Well, we did camp, enjoy the view, got out of the village for once. Didn’t you say this was your first time going out of your village?” Fuu asked.

“Oh, yeah. I guess, it was a little fun.” Naruto replied.

Make sense why he was never let out of the village. Han thought. All three of these kids were raised in isolation. Naruto through neglect, Fuu through overprotectiveness, and Gaara due to fear. Due to neglect, Naruto wasn’t properly trained or raised. Fuu was raised effectively but her emotional growth was stunted a little bit and Gaara, after what happened to his uncle, was left on his own accord unless the Kazekage needed something from him.

Tenzo who has been watching the whole thing was relieved. It seems this mission wasn’t a problem after all. But why does he still have a bad feeling?

*****

The sound of raging water can be heard. It was a majestic sight to see the waterfall rush down towards the river. A man stood at the bottom of the waterfall. This is where the entrance to Takigakure no sato – a hidden shinobi village known for producing very powerful jounins and has never been invaded by their larger and more powerful enemies despite their small size.

Two men stood at the bottom of the waterfall. One of them wore a black cloak with red clouds and stared at it. The other man looked on with some nostalgia but it disappeared as quickly as he glanced at it.

“It has been a while since you came back to the village isn’t it, Kakuzu?” Suien asked slyly at his partner. Suien, a missing-nin of Taki with long spiky hair, small dark eyes, and a goatee and wearing a bandana to hold his hair up stared at his tall, tanned-skinned man whose head and lower face were covered. His eyes were a pupilless green.

“Shut up, Suien. Or I’ll kill you.” The man responded.

“Hai Hai. Always so stiff.” Suien muttered.

“We’re only here because you wanted to detour for your stupid hero’s water,” Kakuzu said.

“You are not interested in the power it can bring you?”

The man snorted. “I have no need for that.”

Suien smiled slyly. “Of course, you have our village’s forbidden techniques for that.”

Kakuzu only glared at the man. He knew Suien only partnered with him because he wanted Kakuzu’s techniques. The greedy fucker. Kakuzu thought. The man expected it because he removed the Akatsuki cloak. After all, this isn’t Akatsuki's business and their leader has already warned him to stop killing his partners. And that was the man he would not fight against because he was capable of crushing all his hearts at once.

Then three people appeared behind them.

“Hisame, Kirisame, Murasame.” Suien acknowledged the two men and one woman. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, Suien-sama.” They answered.

“Yup. Let’s go get that Hero’s water.” He smirked.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. I’d do something else.” Kakuzu started to walk away.

“You don’t want to see how the village is faring?” Suien asked.

“No,” Kakuzu answered. “I have no attachment to the village. All the people who I hated were gone. I have no reason to kill the new generations.” And the man left Suien.

Suien sighed.

“Oh, well.” He shrugged and looked at the other three. “Let’s go.”