Chapter 19: Chunin or Not Chunin?

It was to unfamiliar surroundings that Riku woke up to. From the ceilings, the walls, the whole room which included the furniture, everything was unknown to him. It took him a few moments to remember that he was in one of the rooms of the Senju manor in the Senju compound. The building was a piece of Konoha history, made from the wood of the Shodaime’s mokuton. It was there that the Shodai and then the Nidaime Hokage had lived. Where his own sensei, Tsunade, was born, raised and finally returned to. Riku felt honored to be there but also vindicated. He was now the apprentice of the greatest medic in the world, Godaime Hokage and from the most prestigious clan in the whole Element Nations. That was a big step in being recognized by the villagers as something else that his mother’s son. Also a big step to show them that they were trash and he was morally superior. Lastly, a big step towards his dream of being Hokage. All Hokages after the Shodai had been related in some way. The Nidaime was Senju Hashirama's little brother, Sartuobi Hiruzen has been the Nidaime's student, Namikaze Minato was Jiraiya of the Sannin student who himself was student of the Sandaime and finally Senju Tsunade was the granddaughter of the Shodai, Grand-niece of the Nidai and student of the Sandaime.

Being her disciple increased his chances to one day wear the hat significantly. Of course it wasn’t a sure thing. He needed to work and train hard, become perhaps the strongest of the village and most importantly be useful. To think that a bit more than a month ago he had nothing and wasn’t going anywhere made him realize that sometimes, you need a shit ton of luck.

Yawning, he got out of bed, went to the bathroom to wash his face, brush his teeth and empty his bladder. Once done he went back to his room, dressed for the day and left for his morning routine, leaving behind a shadow clone. The sun was barely rising which was perfect for him. At this time of the day he could scour Konoha without being bothered by the villagers’ whispers or glares. When he came back, he immediately went to the kitchen to start breakfast. As the youngest and the new apprentice he was at the bottom of the hierarchy ladder and he believed (wrongly) that the chores were for him to do.

Shizune was the first to show up. After nearly twenty years of assisting Tsunade, getting up before her was so deeply ingrained in herself that she doubted she could wake up any later. She was pleasantly surprised to find Riku finishing to set the table while a clone of him was cooking breakfast. She didn’t think twice about deciding that Tsunade having another apprentice was a good thing, understanding that many of her chores would not be hers to do anymore. She greeted Riku and sat down at the table. She patiently waited for the food by having a light conversation with her kohai. Mainly about where she went, what she did, what she experienced. She had no problem answering all the questions he had and was enjoying herself. When the clone was done cooking, he served first then himself and put the rest of the food under a bell to keep it warm for their sensei. Sensei who showed up ten minutes later.

“TSUNADE-SAMA!”

The yell of outrage and panic that Shizune let out, awakened completely the new Hokage.

“Y-yes?”

“We’re not alone anymore! Please dress appropriately!”

“What are-”

It took a second for Tsunade to realize what her oldest student meant. She was only wearing black panties and a dark green kimono. And nothing else. What was worse was that the kimono was wide open, presenting to the world half her breasts. It would have been the full package had they not been so big and thus straining the cloth, allowing it to barely hang on her very erect nipples but still presenting a part of her very pink areolas. All in front of Riku who was frozen in shock at the view, his face blushing like mad. Tsunade followed suit with her own blush but she quickly grabbed both sides of her kimono and closed it, putting one above the other.

‘They’re really the greatest in the world.’

Once again he voiced his thoughts unknowingly and once again consequence hit. This time it was a flick to the forehead and he fell backward with the chair, unconscious.

“TSUNADE-SAMA!” Shizune chastised.

“He deserved it!” the blonde protested pointing her finger at her new apprentice who was down for the count.

“He’s thirteen! His hormones are starting to act up! Of course his eyes would be dragged to your chest! Any healthy man’s eyes or boys’ would! If anything it’s your fault for being indecent!”

“It’s my home! I wear whatever I want!”

“Then don’t act like a blushing maid when Riku stares because you’re half naked! And don’t knock him out either! Now please sit down and eat your breakfast. It’s the least you could do after Riku worked hard on it.”

“He cooked it?” The Godaime asked in surprise, taking a seat at the table.

“Yes. He was up even before me for it.”

She began to eat the food, pancakes with honey, while Shizune woke Riku up. He was confused for a moment then remembered what had happened. Wisely he said nothing and went back to eat in silence. When everyone was done, Riku cleaned up the table and went to wash the dishes. In the meantime Tsunade and Shizune went to prepare themselves to start the day. They had a lot to do. The latter was to go to the hospital and make a review of how well it was running (or not) for when Tsunade would pay a business visit. She had gone there the previous day but only for a short time. Just enough to pull Kakashi and Sasuke out of their coma. Everything else after that was dropped into the doctors’ lap. For her part, the last Senju had to make a decision about Suna, the problem was, she needed to wait for their council to answer the terms of their village surrender so instead she would focus on the results of the chunin exam. She counted on Riku’s advice, since he had been among the examinees and seemed to have a keen and honest eye.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked, seeing Riku on his way to the front door just as she did so too.

“I was going to visit my friend to tell her that I found some place to live. We were supposed to room in before my house got destroyed then to room in once she found a place for herself.”

“Nuh-huh. You’re coming with me. I want your opinion on something.”

“Sure, sensei.” he replied and made a shadow clone which left to see Karin.

Tsunade didn’t comment on it but found the use of the kage bunshin smart.

“Where to?”

“Sensei’s office.”

She barely gave him the location that she grabbed him by the back of his collar and shushined away to their destination. Despite the Senju compound being a bit remote from the Hokage Tower, they reach there in a minute. Five more and they were greeting Hiruzen who was drinking his morning tea. He welcomed them but was perplexed at Riku’s presence.

“He was there among them. I want to hear his opinion more than any report or recommendation for Jonin sensei favoring their students or a simple proctor.”

“Iruka’s reports are very thorough.” defend Hiruzen.

“I don’t doubt you but more opinions is better. Besides It’s a test for him.”

“A test? Of his awareness?” the sandaime asked and got a nod in return. “ Hmm.. The idea has some merit. The TV is here, the tapes there, and the report over here.”

“Hmm, Sensei? What do you need my opinion on, exactly?”

“The other participants of the chunin exam.” she replied nonchalantly, picking up the reports and sitting down on a chair.

“Don’t you think I’d be a bit biased?”

“Yes, but that’s the test. To see if you can be professional without emotionally involving yourself. It’s a mandatory skill in many things including medic-nin. Now hurry up, we have a lot to see and very little time.” she explained while opening a file.

“That’d go faster by using shadow clones.” he commented off hand and took a seat next to her.

That tidbit he said made her stop her reading and raised her head from the file. Before she could say anything, Hiruzen interjected.

“Riku, this is a S-rank secret.” he said with a frown.

“That *I* discovered and that sensei is entitled to as the next Hokage.”

“That’s… brilliant. Using shadow clones to… do whatever you need to do while doing something else. You came up with it?”

“He did. A second after I explained to him how it was used for recon.” Hiruzen revealed and signaled the Anbu to get the hell out of the office, surprising Tsunade.

“I don’t think that’s that big of a secret that it needs to be S-rank or send away your guards.”

“That part no. The part about using it to train faster, yes.”

Tsunade froze. Digesting the information her sensei just shared. As it dawned on the possibilities of such a training method, she went slack jawed.

“Holy… That’s more than brilliant! That’s a complete cheat! How come uncle didn’t think of it?! How come you didn’t?!”

“Because we’re one track morons. Sensei created it for recon and focused only on that and nothing else. He taught me that the jutsu was for recon only and I never questioned it. Still it’s not for everyone. You need the chakra capacity to take full advantage of it. And while in theory each clone doubles your training time, since  your chakra is equally divided it technically isn’t true.”

“Yeah… It may not be that much of a cheat but still-”

“There is a way to bypass that, you know?”

Both Tsunade and Hiruzen turned to Riku.

““There is?!””

“Yeah, chakra pills.”

“Chakra pills will damage your body in the long run because of the impurities in its components. It’s inefficient and dangerous.” the blonde woman replied.

“Not for the clones.”

You could hear a pin drop on the office with how thick the silence was. What Riku was suggesting was outrageous but so simple of a solution. Since clones were just that: clones, nobody ever thought of giving them something to eat because they don’t have that need. Both his interlocutors wanted to bash their heads against a wall for never thinking about it.

“Since they’re chakra constructs their chakra would be replenished but the side effects of the pills well… They won’t have any effect. And while a shadow clone comes to be with max chakra reserves and thus doesn't have reserves to fill, it still uses chakra that the pill can recover. In theory a shadow clone, as long as it has chakra pills…”

“Could last forever.” whispered Tsunade in awe.

“The problem is the information recovery. That’s more dangerous than chakra exhaustion. I think you could overload your brain with no way to fix the damage. Well, unless you have a very fast healing rate.”

“Riku, how did you think of that? And why didn’t you tell me?” inquired Hiruzen.

“Oh! Well… The kage bunshin that was maintaining the barrier that day got the idea. So much happened and so fast since then that I… kind of forgot?” the young chunin replied sheepishly.

“Understandable.” nodded Hiruzen.

“Do you have other usage for them that nobody else thought about?” inquired Tsunade.

“How should I know what people didn’t think about?” he answered, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

“Humor us. Give us a list of what you thought.”

“Oookay. Hum... It’s just theories I never really tried but… You can use a shadow clone to make combination jutsu. Like you use wind but the clone fire to make a big inferno. Or if one of your arms is incapacitated use the clone’s hand to mould both’s chakra to make a double jutsus. You could also store the clone inside a seal to use it later. With time your chakra reserves will fill up but you will still have a clone with half your chakra available. The problem with that is, what happens if your reserves are full and that the clone pops? Might be dangerous. Then there is using the clone with chakra pills to indefinitely hold a jutsu or a barrier. The information recoil would be insane the longer it lasts but I wonder if the experience is transferred back if the clone pops because he doesn’t have chakra anymore. If it doesn’t you just need to give him chakra exhaustion and you’re safe. You can also use your clone as bait but that everyone does it in battle and finally use them to work faster, like we could do right now.”

Once again both Tsunade and Hiruzen looked at him in silence. They exchange a look between them and a nod.

“Riku, I want you to mark all those ideas down for testing later.”

“Yes, sensei.”

“Now, let’s start to work.” she said and popped three shadow clones. One went to the TV to watch the footage and the two others picked a file.

After ten minutes she dispelled the ones reading, absorbing their information and began to ponder on it. Turning to Riku who had busied himself by discussing seals with Hiruzen, she finally asked for his evaluation.

“With whom do you want me to start?”

“Let’s start with your own teammates. Akiyama Gou.”

“Gou is a good Taijutsu specialist. He has a good head on his shoulders and is very observant. He’s good at looking underneath the underneath but also at acting on the fly while not being the smartest around. He’s a team player and while he doesn’t speak much, when he believes he needs to speak up he does. He also started working on his range problem by learning a few long range water jutsu. They don’t do much damage but they impair a lot giving him time to help a comrade, retreat or attack. I believe he deserved to be promoted.”

“I agree. Young Gou did very well during the second phase of the exam and the finals. He may have lost against his own teammates but barely. His showing was excellent.”

“I have here a recommendation from his own sensei, Hyuga Hinae, jonin Maito Gai and Shiranui Genma, the finals’s proctor.” she said, looking at the file of the genin but not knowing who the jonins were, hoping that Hiruzen would fill her in.

“Hinae is a jonin from the side branch of the Hyuga. She’s good enough that the elders allowed her to learn some secret technique reserved for the main branch. She’s highly regarded and trusted despite being a branch member by the whole clan thanks to her skills as a kunoichi. Maito Gai is the foremost Taijutsu expert in the village. He’s unable to use anything but Taijutsu and yet can compete with the likes of Hatake Kakashi without problem. He inherited from his father the technique of the Eight gates and pushed it further. Shiranui Genma is one of the former personal guards of Minato.”

“I see. Tanaka Yuuna?”

“Ninjutsu specialist and area damage specialist thanks to her fire affinity. She’s smarter than Gou and I believe the brain of her original team. Very cunning. She has no problem leading or advising the one who does. She doesn’t hesitate to voice her opinion but follow the orders given even if they go against any plan she made. She added genjutsu to her arsenal and worked on her Taijutsu enough to not be helpes against a specialist like her match against Gou and, from what I heard from him, Rock Lee who's also a Taijutsu specialist like Gai-san.  What she can’t defeat with Taijutsu she defeats it with genjutsu. She deserved to be promoted too.” and Hiruzen nodded in agreement.

“The same Jonins recommend her too with the addition of Yuhi Kurenai.”

“She’s a recently promoted jonin but is known as the genjutsu mistress of Konoha. She’s also an excellent jonin-sensei. Out of the three rookie teams, hers demonstrated the best and most balanced results, despite none of her students having any affinity for her specialty.”

“Thank you, sensei. Let’s continue with her team then.”

“None of them are qualified.” Riku simply answers before explaining himself. “ Aburame Shino lacks the strength and the versatility. Hyuga Hinata lacks the leadership and the confidence in herself. Inuzuka Kiba is close in terms of strength but falls short. No brain to speak of and his leadership ability  is… he’s less of a leader and more of a tyrant because of his pack mindset. None of them reached the finals.”

“That’s a harsh evaluation of Kiba.” noted Hiruzen.

“But not untrue.”

“Indeed, yes.”

“Team Gai?” inquired Tsunade.

“None of them either. What I saw of Tenten was a serious kunoichi who trained hard in throwing weapons… All kinds of them. She’s really good but that's all she has. Her opponent in the preliminaries was a long range wind user who defeated her quickly. She has the mind but not a set of skills diverse enough. Rock Lee… I do not know. I missed his match but from the bit of his character. I think he’s too excited to be a chunin. The ‘Hit first then don’t think later’ type. Lastly, Hyuga Neji. In my opinion he should be sent back to the academy.” Hiruzen snorted at that, confusing Tsunade.

“Why?”

“Superiority complex because of his clan name and talent in the gentle fist. Doesn’t know anything else. He’s… a defeatist and couldn’t bring the morale up of a team to save his life. A fatalist too and an arrogant one at that. He tried to murder his own cousin from the main branch during the second stage. That disqualifies him on the spot for the promotion. What’s worse is… he’s been a genin for over a year under a very competent jonin and yet he tries to kill a comrade out of a misplaced grudge. That’s why I believed he should be sent back to the Academy.”

“Let’s hope his defeat at your hands will help him change for the better.” the sandaime commented and Riku nodded.

“Alright…  There is one recommendation from Gai and… No, that's not one. That’s more of a note suggesting to not promote them. That’s weird.” she said with a creased brow.

“After the second stage I summoned Team Gai’s, 7’s, 8’s and 10’s jonins sensei to give them the results of an evaluation of their teams made by Iruka. Neji’s promotion had been discussed plenty. He was well aware it couldn’t happen.”

“Okay. Still weird but okay. Next is team 10.”

“Ugh… The worst of the rookie teams despite having the best teamwork. There is so much wrong individually that it’s beyond funny and downright sad. None have the strength or skills for chunin. Except for Shikamaru, none have the mind. Hard no for all of them.”

“Your son recommended him for a promotion, sensei.”

“My son is an idiot. Shikamaru is smart, yes, perhaps more than his father Shikaku. But he is useless if he doesn’t have the time to plan. The enemy won’t give it to him. Being insanely smart is not enough to make chunin. ”

“Team 7.”

“No to all of them too. Sasuke, shouldn’t even be a Shinobi. He’s Neji but worse because of his fragile ego. He has talent, yes, the skill and the mind too. He’s not eligible in my opinion because he has no self-control. All I needed to do to defeat him was to compare him to his brother and he would have lost all reason. Sakura should either be transferred to the intelligence division, the hospital or stopped being a kunoichi to stop embarrassing the village and kunoichis as a whole. She has a really good head on her shoulders and yet she’s an Uchiha fan girl who diets. She’s also physically abusive towards her teammate Naruto and only him. I know he’s annoying most of the time but that’s no reason. Finally Naruto…” Riku sighed thinking about him. “He shouldn’t have graduated in the first place so chunin? No, he’s way too immature for that. He only knows the academy three and the kage bunshin instead of the regular one for Ninjutsu. Probably because of his insane chakra reserves and his poor chakra control. His Taijutsu is mostly inexistant, he’s just… brawling.”

“Anything to add, sensei?”

“I disagree with Naruto not being fit to be a genin but otherwise, no.”

“Finally Uzumaki Karin.”

“Huh…” was all Riku said, thinking about it. “Difficult to say. She’s smart. Very smart. Despite not being a fighter she used her head to win against Temari who I believe is a chunin level kunoichi. Karin is very competent as a support but again she’s not a fighter so… I don’t know. I’d say no. She needs to get stronger first and I’m not counting the fact that she just joined the village from Kusa. It will take a while before she can be trusted to be chunin and potentially lead a team. I don’t see the latter happening though. I think she’d do better as a medic-nin or working in the biology section of the R&D. Her being chunin or not wouldn’t matter then.”

Riku’s evaluation stopped there and Tsunade nodded. She closed the file she had taken some notes in during the conversation, turned towards the Tv and dispelled her clone. Once again she took a moment to deal with the knowledge and suddenly laugh her ass off.

“Oh my god! ‘Sweeping someone off their feet’ after cutting them off?! Really?” she said with amusement, shaking her head. “Not as funny as the way you dealt with the Uchiha though. That would have made uncle crack a smile.”

“Oh, definitely and that’s quite a feat.” commented Hiruzen with a smile of his own.

“Anything else, sensei?”

“Nah. You’re free until my coronation ceremony. By then I will have learned the job and dealt with everything that needs to be dealt with. We’ll start your practical training, then.”

“What about theoriti-.” Was cut off by Tsunade tossing him a scroll, which he caught.

“You have a week to learn everything in the books that’s in there. You’d be quizzed. I’ll accept no less than an 90%”

“...As soon as I can, I’m making you a book of seals.” he said. He thanked her, bowed to Hiruzen and took his leave.

“Is it really that useful?” she inquired, turning to her sensei.

“Look at the Anbu reports and you’ll see but yes.”