Chapter 10: A proper Team

Riku arrived at training ground 15 a good thirty minutes early. He was excited to be in a proper genin team. ‘Finally’ he had thought. However, he was under no illusion that it was permanent. From what Izumo told him, their third member had made chunin in the last exam five months ago and while he stayed in the team to support his friends, waiting for them to be promoted too, he couldn’t participate in this exam, hence the free spot Riku could fill. Nonetheless, the young dirty blond was thrilled to be around people his age and while his temporary teammates may not be actual friends they may become friendly acquaintances.

‘Baby steps, Riku. Baby steps.’ he kept telling himself.

Ten minutes before the meeting time. A kunoichi with standard chunin vest and regular combat black pants, shushined in at the entrance of the training ground. With her head protector on her forehead, her long black hair reaching the middle of her back and, more importantly, her pupil-less white eyes, Riku knew that the woman in her late twenties, early thirties was from the Hyuuga clan. He also knew that she was the sensei of the team he would now be part of; Izumo having given him her name. Riku found her pretty but nothing like Yugao who still ranked number one as prettiest woman he had ever seen. As he kept looking at her, the jonin made her way towards him and introduced herself.

“Hello, I’m Hyuuga Hinae. You’re Warudo Riku I presume?”

“I am. Nice to meet you Hyuuga-san.” he greeted back with a short respectful bow.

“Hinae is fine.” she quickly said. “Izumo and Kotetsu told me lots of things about you.”

“If it’s bad, it’s probably a lie.” he quickly defended himself which made her laugh. He had to give her credit, it was a nice laugh. Very soft.

“Yes, knowing those two, especially Kotetsu, it probably is. They did nothing of the sort though. At worst they just said that you were a bit obsessed with fuinjutsu.”

“I…May be a little bit.”

“All they told me was that you were more than ready for the exam. That you had very good chakra control and that you pulled your weight with them on mission. A Jack of all trades were the words they used.”

“I wouldn’t say a Jack of all trades but I think they’re not far off with their assessment. I have yet to find a taijutsu style that suits me and my genjutsu is very limited but otherwise I believe to be more than decent in all conventional shinobi arts. I’m more of a… support type than a heavy hitter though.”

“I see. Well, that’s perfect for the team.”

As she talked about it, two figures came into the training grounds. One male and one female. The boy was rather tall, almost a foot and half taller than Riku. he had short brown hair and eyes and he was jacked. Riku found him… plain. If he had to pick him from inside a crowd he would have some difficulties doing so since his defining physical features were shared by the majority of the population in the Land of Fire.

The girl wasn’t nearly as tall as her teammate but had a good head on Riku. Her hair was raven black but her eyes were a light green. In Riku’s eyes, she was cute, not a beauty like Hinae, let alone Yugao, but she was pretty. He would have an easier time finding her in a crowd than the boy.

It was obvious that they were older than him by at least a couple years. Maybe three. That made him wonder why they were still genin and in a genin team after so long. When they joined him and Hinae, they greeted her then him.

“Hello, I’m Tanaka Yuuna. Welcome to the team.” the girl cheerfully introduced herself.

“Akiyama Gou.” was the simple but short and curt introduction the boy gave.

“Mah~ Don’t mind Gou. Despite his big man attitude, he’s a big softy on the inside.”

“Yuuna!”

“What?! It’s true!”

“Perhaps you could not start bickering and let our newest team member introduce himself?” ventured Hinae gently but the fake sweet smile she gave her students was anything but. Clearly they either shut up or would suffer the consequences.

““Sorry, sensei!””

“I’m… Warudo Riku, nice to meet you.” Once again he gave his name and a short bow.

“Hey! I know you! You’re the guy that beat up Tenchi and Isobe!”

The cheerfulness Yuuna had displayed earlier was now gone. She was pointing accusingly at Riku with a mighty frown on her face. Riku was confused by this drastic change in attitude and her words.

“Who?”

“Tenchi and Isobe! You sent them to the hospital a few months back!”

“A few… Oh!” he exclaimed suddenly, remembering the two genins she was talking about. “Those jerks did squat shit during our mission together and let me do all the work. Then they took their share of the money and tried to forcefully take mine. As far as I’m concerned, they deserved the ass kicking I gave them.” was the calm answer he gave to his new teammate.

“That… sounds like them, yeah.” Yuuna admitted, her attitude changing again while Gou nodded in agreement.

“Alright!” Hinae said loudly as she clapped her hands in front of her. “Now that we’re done with the introduction, let’s move on to what each one of you can do. Then we’ll brainstorm on how we can make you work together. We have a month of teamwork ahead of us, let’s not waste time!”

All genin agreed with enthusiasm with her plan.

___________________________________________________________________

Riku had to admit, his teammates were good. They were no Izumo, Kotetsu or Hayate but they were relatively strong ninja for their age and the few years of training they had. If he had to gauge them by the standard of his class, Gou and Yuuna were well above them, however maybe not Sasuke. It didn’t really mean anything though as they have been trained by a jonin for two years now. It was expected that they were stronger than academy students. They were way better than the genin in the genin corps though and that made Riku realize how advantageous a jonin sensei was for the development of genin. That also made him bitter to no end.

They were shocked to learn that he had been the rookie of the year and yet ended up in the genin corps from the get go. Especially after the weeks they trained together and Riku giving them a run for their money despite the two years gap of experience. Gou had simply frowned but Yuuna had been pretty vocal. They understood that no matter how good a shinobi was, if his teammates were pants then it was back to the academy or the genin corps if the genin test went wrong. Friends of theirs ended like that. But ending in the genin corps right out of the bat, that was something that had infuriated her to no end. Even the always smiling Hinae had difficulty keeping her smile up when she learned about it. In her eyes, Riku was clearly a prodigy that should have been nurtured and not discarded. Had she not been sure that this time her students would make it, she would have invited Riku into the team permanently. Her third student was already chunin and free to find a temporary other team, Riku’s potential in comparison to their original team’s bond was more important and couldn’t be wasted anymore.

Though she thought ‘wasted’ but her youngest team member was already good enough to be promoted in her opinion. When she went to see Izumo and Kotetsu for more information about Riku , her misconception that they had done a few missions with him and trained him had been blown away when she learned that he was mostly self-taught. The tale of their B-tank turned A-rank had been quite surprising. She honestly wished she had had him as a student and wondered what was going through the mind of her colleagues at the time of team selection. Sure, she was aware of his mother’s deed but she didn’t care and couldn’t understand why it mattered to other people in the first place. Had his skill set match hers she would have taken him as an apprentice, regardless of the stigma. Hiashi, the Hyuuga clan head may have been against it but she was sure that she could convince him by pointing out that Riku was a complete genius and that it would present their clan in a good light to the shinobi population to not care about the actions of a parent and put  an emphasis in raising the next generation of shinobi regardless. She may have had some problem with the elders and suffered a bit but she knew she would have had her way and it would have been worth it. Unfortunately she was ill suited to take him as an apprentice. But then again the team worked well together and she had no doubt that it would reach the final stage of the exam and that each member would be promoted.

“You didn’t forget anything?” she asked her genin. “Gou, chakra pills, soldier pills?”

“Got thirty of each, sensei. I’m good.”

“Yuuna? Enough kunais and shurikens? I don’t want a repeat of …”

“It happened ONE TIME! And it was our first C-rank!” yelled the offended Kunoichi to the snickers of everyone else.

Riku had learned that story from Gou and found it quite amusing. During their first C-rank Yuuna had to sacrifice space for cosmetics in her pouch and decided that the best way to do that was to decrease the number of her kunais and shurikens she was carrying. Suffice to say when she was all out of weapons during a bandit assault, she felt quite dumb. The tongue lashing she got from Hinae had been legendary if Gou was to be believed.

“Perfect! You’re ready to go then! Good Luck!”

“Hey! What about Riku?! Aren’t you going to nag at him too?”

The stupidity of her statement made everyone pause. Then Gou snorted and Hinae began to laugh. Riku’s reaction was a single eyebrow raised displaying his incredulity.

“Yeah, okay, I realized how dumb it sounded as soon as I said it.” the teenage girl confessed with a sigh.

Riku had been nothing but exemplary during their month together. Polite, helpful and mindful. The only ‘bad’ thing they had to say about him was his tendency to work on things alone during training. Otherwise he demonstrated that he was a sure guy, very level headed and that you could always count on him. To Yuuna and Gou, they were sure that this time they would make chunin. Their first exams had been a total bust, not reaching beyond the first stage. Despite being genin for a year, they still lacked a bit of experience and their participation was a way for them to be faced with what they were lacking. Their second exam went way better but bad luck struck. Gou fought a genin that would end up winning the final stage, without being able to display his skills and Yuuna fought and lost against their third teammate Hitoshi in the preliminaries.

Hinae wished them good luck again and shushined away. The team then entered the building where the exam took place and made their way towards the room allocated to them.

“What the hell are they doing here?” Riku whispered. Something that was not missed by his friends.

“Who?” asked Yuuna, curious.

“Those two genins that you see blocking people?” he pointed out.

“Yeah, what about them?”

“They’re not genin at all, they’re chunins.”

“How do you know that?” inquired Gou.

“Because they’re the senpais I went on missions with.”

“Izumo and Kotetsu, right?”

“Yes. Kotetsu is the one with the bandage on his face, Izumo the other.”

“I think they’re here to weed the idiots out.” Yunna finally said as they walked closer. “Look, they put a genjutsu on the room’s number.” she added in a whisper so she wouldn’t be heard by everyone around her.

Both boys looked up and saw the number 301 displayed above the door. That didn’t make any sense since they were on the second floor. The number should be 201

“Good job, Yuuna-san.” praised Riku, making her beam with happiness.

That was a simple but clever way his senpais had come up with to fail the ones not ready. Riku supposed that it was a form of mercy. Death wasn’t uncommon during a chunin exam after all. If genins couldn’t even notice a simple genjutsu like that they were not ready to advance further. They would probably die. Gou and Riku had been focused on the chunins so they didn’t really pay attention to anything else but they would have noticed quickly in the end had Yuuna not pointed it out.

When the team reached the crowd, they simply stuck to the wall and made their way to the stairs, Riku grinning at his senpais when he caught their attention briefly. They reached room 301 and after taking a good look at the other contestant, joined the side where most konoha-nin gathered near the entrance. They waited fifteen minutes when he saw familiar faces coming in.

‘Shino, Hinata, Akamaru and his pet Inuzuka Kiba. Their jonin sensei is either completely insane or really competent to let them take the exam. I mean, Shino is good, so is Hinata if she finds the confidence but Kiba? There is no way that mutt could be ready for the exam. He’s the weak link of the team and if each of their progress is on par with the one of the academy he will drag them down big time.’

He caught Hinata’s eye and greeted her with a nod and a smile that she gave back but she never separated from her team who went to find their own space to wait. Five minutes later more familiar faces came through the door and this time frowned at who it was.

‘The lazy ass, the fatty and the bitch.’

Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji and Yamanaka Ino, respectively.

‘Why the hell are they here?  Shikamaru has his brain but he’s physically weak as hell, perhaps even more than Ino! And Choji is way too passive and scared of hurting people. No matter how good their sensei is, there is no way those three would be ready after six months of training for the exam.’

“They’re from your class?” Yuuna asked at his side and explained herself when he looked at her. “Them and the previous team, it’s obvious you know them from the way you look at them. Anything we should know?”

“They’re from my graduating class, yes. Pineapple head is a Nara so be careful of shadows. Very, very smart but lazy as hell and weak. He probably thinks that his intellect will carry him but do something outside his calculation and he’s a headless chicken. The guy with him is his best friend. Akimichi Choji, unless you call him fat he’s mostly harmless. You could try bribing him with food to get your way, maybe. Blondie is Yamanaka Ino. Since she’s a Yamanaka-”

“Don’t stand in her line of sight like an idiot.” Gou commented.

“Yeah. Otherwise, she’s just a joke of a kunoichi. She’s fangirling for the Uchiha.”

The sound of Yuuna retching grabbed both boys' attention.

“Fan girls. They’re just.. Ugh. I feel disgraced by.. Ugh.”

“You’re preaching to a convert.” answered Riku with Gou agreeing from the side with a nod. “From the previous team, the glasses guy is Aburame Shino. He’s… good. Very analytic and doesn’t make unnecessary moves. His bugs should be annoying but you probably could counter him easily if you don’t let him sneak up on you, Yuuna-san. The girl is Hinata. Strong taijutsu obviously, since she’s a Hyuga but she’s very shy and insecure. Massively insecure. Attacking her verbally would yeild better results than a physical confrontation. I advise against it though, she’s… really nice and kind.”

“Is that a crush that I hear?” teased his teammate. “Gou, do you hea-”

“It’s not, way too shy and young.”

“Young?

That was Gou who spoke up in surprise this time.

“Aww, our little Riku likes older girls. That’s cute. You don’t have a crush on me though? Do you?” Yuuna teased again.

“What if I do? What are you going to do about it?” he replied looking at her while making his eyebrow go up and down suggestively. Her answer was to chuckle and wacked his arm affectionately. “The last one is Inuzuka Kiba. He’s a moron of the highest order. With him it’s act first, never think later. He has some endurance and is relatively good at taijutsu but otherwise he’s a weakling. Or at least he was six months ago. They all were and I doubt they’re good enough to challenge you. Maybe Shikamaru if you give him time to plan.”

“Alright. And those three?”

“Who are you-”

Looking back at the entrance, Riku saw the last team of his class enter the room. Side by side were Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura.

“I can’t believe they’re here too.” he said with a deadpan expression.

“Why?” Yuuna asked.

“They’re weak too?” Gou added his own question.

“The Uchiha is good. He was second only to me in class and is probably already stronger now, he trains seriously. The blonde loudmouth is a bit like Kiba, act first, never think later most of the time. He does however think fast and when he does it’s on the fly and is very good with traps. He’s also a chakra monster. His reserves were bigger than the whole class combined and that includes our instructor.”

“You’re kidding?!” exclaimed Yuuna in shock.

“I wish but no.” Riku replied, shaking his head. “Fortunately his taijutsu is shit, his ninjutsu is shit, his kunai and shuriken jutsu are shit and his genjutsu is worse than shit. He failed the academy exam three times, though to be fair because of his chakra reserve he couldn’t make the regular bunshin. That also means his chakra control is shit. How he became a genin is a mystery to me but regardless he’s here and could pose a problem if a fight lasts. If we can’t deal with him quickly the best option is to retreat. We won't win a fight of attrition, his stamina is way too off the charts for that. Otherwise he’s shit and we should just ignore him or since he’s loud as hell use him as bait if the opportunity presents itself. Lastly, Haruno Sakura. She’s… a fan girl too. She has a very good memory and is more than decently smart but her chakra reserves are pitiful which may mean nearly perfect chakra control. Ninjutsu is out for her and so is genjutsu since she has no sense of creativity. Still she may know a few. Her physical prowess are only worth talking about to have a good laugh. I mean.. She’s dieting.” The gasp that and retch sound that Yuuna let iut was ignored. “She’s more interested in becoming the next Uchiha matriarch than anything.”

Both of his teammates nodded in acknowledgement. They knew Riku’s statement was probably accurate but it was about his classmates from six months ago. While progress was expected they doubted they would have become stronger by leaps and bounds. They would not lower their guard and underestimate them however.