45V1 Chapter 2: Graduation Day!
Sarutobi Residence, Konoha
"Mmm," the now 14 year old Shinji moaned ash his eyes fluttered open looking quite different from the first time he was 14. Gone was the skinny boy who first stumbled his way into Evangelion Unit-01, due to the constant training Shinji was extremely fit for his age, his loose sleeping clothes hiding the lean build years of practicing swordsmanship had produced.
The former Third Child looked down and smiled at the now very familiar sight of a messy mop of fiery red hair. He honestly didn't know what happened more often, Asuka having her head on her pillow or on him. She had her arms wrapped around him in a loving embrace and, as if sensing him stirring awake, she tightened her grip and muttered something he couldn't quite catch clearly.
Something about…him becoming a devil with a harem of his own? He raised a brow at that and chuckled softly, what kind of absurd and unrealistic dream was she having? Really? Asuka then tightened her grip on his torso, mumbling about him building a harem of aliens, and he couldn't help but blush as her soft breasts pressed up against him. In the years since they had first started at The Academy she had grown quite a bit, now resembling how she was during the Angel War for the most part. Her body was just as mature and developed for her age as it was last time, more so even due to the fitness level required of kunoichi and Shinji would be lying if he said he hadn't admired his girlfriend's shinobi body on more than one occasion.
How many times had he fantasized about being this close to her in the past?
He really was a lucky bastard wasn't he?
He gave her a loving squeeze back and crooned his head down to give the top of her head a soft kiss, while he was still prone to being flustered in public in private settings like this he was fine…well for the most part. Asuka could be quite the Misato level tease when she was awake.
He then turned his head to the right and smiled as he saw the peaceful sleeping face of Rei Ayanami, some of her chin length light blue hair covering her face as she held his right hand in one of hers. She wasn't lying as close to him as Asuka was, although considering Asuka snuggled right up to him that wasn't saying much, having some space between himself with Asuka and Rei. Still he respected her space, she was her own person and unlike he and Asuka she really was going through puberty for the first time and the hormonal rush that came with it due to Akagi and his father stunting her with drugs in their previous life. At least he and Asuka knew what to expect for the most part.
The former First Child of NERV had also grown to a similar appearance as she had in her old life and just like Asuka it could be argued she looked even better than before due to needing to be in top shape, Shinji would certainly say so. Honestly he was rather glad she was comfortable sleeping with him and Asuka now, Rei was never the type to complain so if she had nightmares he and Asuka would never know so hopefully their presence was keeping any of those at bay just like how it worked for he and Asuka when they first started to share a bed. That said he was also glad that Rei wasn't snuggling up to him just yet.
There was only so much his self-control during puberty could take!
Still, as happy waking up beside two warm bodies made him…he still needed to get out of Rei's soft hand and Asuka's vice like embrace and out of bed to start breakfast without waking either of them, specially Rei.
Luckily he had his shinobi training.
So without a sound and in a blur of movement he performed the Substitution Jutsu, a basic shinobi skill, to switch places with Rei. Normally a bit of smoke would accompany the technique in the field to conceal his movements but that was unneeded here.
Softly landing right at the door he looked around to check his handy work and was glad to see his two housemates still sound asleep, it was safe to say he was the stealthiest of the group and mornings like these really helped keep it that way. Rei was where he was with Asuka's head resting on her generous br-Shinji shook his head, 'bad hormones! BAD!'
He quickly turned on his heels and made his way to the door, ignoring the amusing and…pleasing sight in their now shared bedroom.
Just because he knew what to expect with his hormones doesn't mean he wasn't affected.
"Cold shower it is this morning," he murmured.
Academy, Konoha
"Iruka-sensei!" the classroom door slammed open as the class and their chunin-sensei turned to see one of his co-workers, hand against the door and panting. "It's Naruto! Again!"
"Gottverdamnt," Asuka quietly growled as she sat in her seat before she flicked her pony tail over her shoulder. Her manner of dress had changed since she first started going to The Academy as she now wore a sleeveless red silk qipao style top with yellow accents that hid a sleeveless mesh armor shirt underneath. Along with that she also wore a pair of tight black short shorts with a dark brown belt where she had clipped on various pouches behind her while two double kunai holsters were on her left and right side. She had forgone the traditional shinobi sandals worn by shinobi from virtually every village in exchange for a pair of high cut almost knee high black boots with steel toe guards for kicking. The fingerless gloves that Yugao had given her though had become too small for her and had been replaced with a pair of standard black shinobi fingerless gloves with a metal plate knuckle guard while her hair was now tied with a black and white stripped ribbon. It was once again from Rei. "The day before the graduation test and he starts shit."
Rei on the other hand just quietly sat, her trademark expression on her face, on the side of Shinji opposite to Asuka. She wasn't too surprised that Naruto had raised a fuss again nor was she particularly annoyed like Asuka was, this happened all the time. In fact it had escalated in recent years.
Unlike Asuka though her hair had not changed from her old life, still the same short chin length cut she had always preferred. Her manner of dress though had changed as she now wore a light blue yukata with a dull silver and light pink floral print and sleeves that were long enough to hide her hands. A simple red obi was tied around her waist and into a bow behind her back. Like Asuka she too had foregone the standard sandals, instead choosing to wear a pair of high cut black boots similar to the ones Asuka used without the metal reinforcements. Finishing up her normal attire was a black leather choker with a small metal red cross chained on to it that was given to her by Asuka. Just like Asuka she too wore a sleeveless mesh armor shirt hidden under her clothes but unlike Asuka Rei's equipment such as pouches and kunai holsters were hidden by her clothes.
Shinji just moaned in annoyance and closed his eyes while massaging the bridge of his nose. As for his clothing he dressed much simpler than both Rei and Asuka with a dark violet long sleeved shirt with '01' printed in white over his right breast with a short sleeved mesh armor shirt underneath, a black scarf, grey pants and a black belt. Most of his pouches were clipped onto his belt like Asuka while a pair of double kunai holsters were strapped onto both of his thighs. Just like Asuka and Rei he too had chosen to go without the traditional sandals, choosing instead a pair of black combat boots that gave more protection to his feet. The ninjato he was given by Yugao was still with him, hung by a cord on the back of his seat
"What has he done this time?" Iruka asked with a defeated sigh.
"He's started to draw on the Hokage Monument!" the other chunin-sensei replied, "in PAINT!"
Rei stiffened in her seat as her eyes slowly drifted onto the form of her boyfriend beside her to see him looking down, deathly still, the shadow cast by his hair covering his eyes. She could feel the emotions running through the bond and it was...intense annoyance and anger. Leaning forward she looked at Asuka who was grinning away and quietly sighed.
"THAT-gah!" Iruka threw his clipboard on the floor with a 'twack' and motioned the other sensei to go back to his previous duties. Iruka himself lamented Naruto's timing as he was just about to go over the graduation exam with his class, so not was he only latebut he was wasting the other kids' time. He was about to go and grab his most rambunctious student himself before he got a much better idea. Naruto didn't really fear him and with the last day of the school year coming very soon he couldn't do much against him, he certainly wouldn't fail him on the exam just as punishment.
That didn't mean there wasn't something he could do.
There was two people Naruto feared after all.
So he turned to the trio with the two people in it to see an obviously annoyed Asuka, a frighteningly calm looking Shinji and a somewhat bored looking Rei.
"Shinji, Asuka, Rei," he gave them all a mischievous smile that sent chills down some of his students spines but not the trio he was speaking too, "would you kindly and as gently as possible bring Naruto back?"
Shinji and Asuka replied with a "yes sensei" while Rei just gave them a calm nod.
Asuka got up and stretched, showing off her body a bit. Of course none of the boys even dared a look, they had learned long ago the hard way what that earned you.
Getting the memory blasted right out of your skull with a casual punch from the class' most feared girl.
Shinji just got up, a cold and calm look on his face. He calmly reached down and picked up his trusty ninjato and unsheathed the blade and was satisfied to see it was still as sharp as a razor before he calmly returned it to its sheath.
Rei just tilted her head and made a mental check on what medical supplies she had on hand and frowned a bit as she realized she may not have enough considering the cold fury she felt pouring off Shinji. After years of being with Asuka she knew to always be ready to treat blunt impact trauma and the odd burn but she wasn't quite prepared for lacerations on the scale of what Shinji could do when in one of his rare angry moods. She hoped Asuka would help her hold him back if he was that angry...she blinked, did she just trust Asuka to be the one with a level head?
In the end she just shrugged as she came to a very Rei-type realization: the hospital wasn't too far and if anything Asuka could just burn a wound closed as a stop-gap if it was too bad so there was no logical reason to worry.
As Iruka saw what they all did before body flickering away he started to think that perhaps he hadn't done the responsible thing…'Naruto please don't be stupid enough to paint on the Third Hokage's face…'
Hokage Monument
"Shut up you idiots!" Naruto shouted as he dangled off the face of the Hokage Monument where the faces of all of the village's hokage have been carved, past and present, dressed in a black shirt, bright orange track pants and blue shinobi sandals, his orange track jacket tied around his waist while a pair of green goggles rested on his forehead. Most of the faces of the hokage were covered in various crude paint drawings and even a few obscene remarks in sloppy text. "None of you guys can do something this horrible. But you know who can?! ME! Because I am INCREDIBLE!" he shouted down at all the people who had gathered on the roof of the Academy and were shouting angry sayings at him.
"Damn brat!"
"You'll get yours for this!"
"Damnit, every fucking DAY!"
"I'm getting too old for this," the Hokage sighed as he arrived on the roof dressed in the traditional white robes of the Kage, the leaders of the five great hidden shinobi villages. He also had his diamond shaped hat with a white vale covering the sides and back of his head on and since he was the Hokage his was red with the kanji for 'fire' printed at the front. "What did he do this time?"
The man known as one of the strongest of the Kage looked up to see…his face and the face of all Hokages past painted on and he just sighed. He could already sense three chakra signatures coming and he knew who they were.
Soon enough three young bodies body flickered onto the roof, Asuka with her ponytail blowing in the breeze while Shinji's scarf and Rei's yukata softly fluttered in the wind.
"Oh," Shinji blinked as the Hokage turned around to see his adopted son giving a small respectful bow, "good morning father."
Asuka and Rei quickly gave a bow of their own to the man who was pretty much a father to them as well. While the old shinobi was usually too busy to spend any time with Shinji (and by extension them since they basically came packaged together) he was quite fatherly in the rare times they ran into each other.
"Good morning Hokage-sama," the two girls greeted.
The old Hokage just smiled at the trio, "good morning Shinji, and good morning to you two as well."
Naruto, who had been boasting even as the Hokage arrived, froze as he heard him greet Shinji good morning and looked and his blood chilled at what he saw.
Shinji-san, the kind and quiet kid he looked up to like a brother, was pissed. Oh he looked calm enough. Growing up to be the son of the Third Hokage, even if he was adopted, meant he had to learn a few things for dealing with clan politics with a poker face being chief among them. Still, Naruto's survival instinct screamed he was angry.
It didn't help that Asuka was grinning at him like a cat that caught the canary while Rei had pulled a first-aid kit out of seemingly nowhere.
Naruto blinked-
"What?" he squinted as he noticed Asuka was gone, 'where did she-'
*Thud!* He heard something land above him and he looked up…to see Asuka somehow standing on the Hokage Monument's vertical face, her boots sticking to the rock face, a kunai in her hand.
Before Naruto could say anything, like beg for mercy or ask her how the hell had she done that, Asuka grabbed the rope with her free hand before severing it, freeing Naruto who hung under her like a piñata before dashing down onto the roof with the host of the Nine Tails in tow. As she landed on the roof, dropping Naruto on his stomach in front of Shinji with a 'thud', she kneeled down in front of Shinji in a clearly submissive position. It was something she definitively would have never done in her old life but she was well aware of the precarious position Shinji held within the Sarutobi clan, more so since Shinji's nephew Konohamaru was born shortly after they were adopted. With that they feared Shinji becoming 'redundant' in the eyes of the council, after all with only a 4 year difference they were more or less a part of the same generation. It was only Shinji's skills that kept most of the council's wrath away from them.
She and Rei had long agreed that with Shinji providing their group's political backing with his position in a powerful clan, they would become his aids in return. They would not let any of them suffer alone, not again. Besides they both knew Shinji didn't like them behaving subservient to him, even if they did so rarely, only when there was a gain for Shinji like now in the presence of some of the village's leaders. Shinji's clear displeasure at Naruto's defacing of his…well father's face on the monument was a good opportunity to do just that. Shinji was mad and Asuka made sure to make a show of her helping him express that displeasure.
It was work yes, balancing the close relationship they all had as partners along with the needs of playing politics but it was worth the effort in Rei and Asuka's eyes, even if Shinji begged to differ.
"Thank you Asuka," Shinji nodded, reluctantly playing his part before he turned to Naruto. "Good morning Naruto," Shinji greeted and Naruto looked up to see Shinji giving him a smile that made Naruto sweat, a smile Shinji had copied from Asuka's own, and much more terrifying in Shinji's opinion, 'too sweet' smile.
"G-good morning S-Shinji-san," Naruto stammered out.
"Are you the one that painted graffiti all over my father's face on the monument?" and Naruto paled at that question, turned around and paled even more.
Honestly Asuka had to fight back her laughter as she got up and stood beside her boyfriend, Shinji loved and respected the Third Hokage for taking all of them into the village and even adopting him. Forgetting that fact, something quite well known among their generation, was a big boo boo in Asuka's opinion.
"Ah...aha ha ha...Y-y-yes?"
"I see," Shinji nodded, "I see…" and slowly unsheathed his ninjato causing Naruto to go snow white.
Asuka just smiled a victorious smile, she had spent quite a bit of effort trying to get Shinji to let out this side of himself out more. Sure she would have preferred if more things set him off but boy did she love when something managed to do just that, ngh!
Rei just calmly stood there, a part of her finding some amusement in this. She tilted her head, 'I suppose Asuka is rubbing off on me as well. What was the term for enjoyment gained from another's misfortune?...Ah, yes. .'
Schadenfreude.
Academy
"Sorry if I hit you too hard Naruto," Shinji apologized as Asuka dragged Naruto, battered and bruised, behind them after he had had the chance to cool down.
"It's fine," Naruto responded, knowing that if he took even a second to think and made the smart move to just paint on the faces other than the Third Hokage's Shinji would have done nothing but vocally reprimand him. That said Asuka would still have been annoyed if that was the case and he honestly didn't know what he feared more, the rarely pissed Shinji or an annoyed Asuka. "Sorry for painting on your dad's face…and thanks for just using the back of the sword. I should have thought it out a bit more."
"In my Baka's defense," Asuka started, "we've been trying to pound it in your head to think before you act and not after for the past how many years."
"Yes," Rei chimed in, "I was not prepared for treating lacerations, it would have been…bothersome."
"That," Naruto turned pale, "isn't comforting Rei-chan."
Soon enough they arrived in the class room.
Shinji's Residence, Sarutobi Clan Compound
"Ready to leave Shinji-sama?" Dragon asked as she stood in the living room of the Hokage's adopted child. She was dressed in, as always when the Children saw her, the standard ANBU uniform with her distinctive short faced dragon style white porcelain mask on her face while she absent mindedly played with her dark violet hair tied into a long low ponytail. Other than that though the woman, whom was currently the one on Shinji's security detail, was the very image of professionalism like all ANBU were when they were wearing their mask.
"I am," Shinji sighed, dressed in his usual attire, before turning back to Rei and Asuka who were relaxing in more casual attire of one of Shinji's shirts and a pair of shorts for Asuka and a sleeveless yellow shirt and pajamas for Rei. "I should be back by dinner time."
"Yes yes," Asuka sighed and waved him off, "don't worry your head Baaaka, you have enough to worry about with the clan council. I'll keep Rei out of the kitchen."
Rei frowned at the jab, she wasn't that bad of a cook…was she? Her food was edible at the least.
Shinji nodded, "take care you two."
And with that the two left and Asuka sighed in annoyance.
"Tomorrow Asuka," Rei started and Asuka looked at her, eyebrow raised.
"What do you mean Rei?"
"After tomorrow, once we graduate and become real Konoha shinobi we can escort him to the meetings ourselves," Rei explained. They had both wanted to accompany Shinji to the meetings themselves instead of having to let him go alone…well he always had one ANBU bodyguard but considering they hid themselves when out in public they still felt Shinji was 'alone' as a result.
"Oh yeah, work it Baka Shinji," Asuka licked her lips hungrily as she watched the scene in front of her, the sound of steel striking steel filling the early morning air.
The former Second Child sat at a picnic table in the back yard of the house she shared with her fellow former Evangelion pilots. Unlike most of the time though she wasn't dressed in her usual attire meant to both to flatter her figure, which she's quite happy to see is just as mature for her age as it was previously, and for ease of movement. Instead she's currently dressed in a simple pair of black short shorts and a red tank top while her fiery red hair was left untied. She had no plans to train today and while of course she still had weapons hidden on her person like any good shinobi, something that was easy to do when your boyfriend practiced fuinjutsu, she was dressed to relax. She really didn't want to do anything too straining today.
So she chose to relax outside since the weather was so nice. In front of her was Shinji and Rei who were doing some weapon training. Shinji with a katana and Rei with a kunai, both were blunt training weapons of course, with their edges smeared in red lipstick to show 'cuts' afterwards. Specifically they were doing close combat weapons training, hence the hint of frustration on the still usually stoic face of Rei Ayanami. They were also dressed simply with Rei in a white shirt and grey track pants while Shinji wore a white shirt and red short. That was Asuka's idea since Shinji usually preferred to dress like Rei in track clothes or his usual outfit when practicing.
'And what a shame that would have been,'she thought with a lick of her lips, her suggested form of clothing let her see her boyfriend's body move with an almost liquid grace as he sweated slightly in exertion. Combine that with how his white shirt had started to cling to him, his quick breathing and her finding him hot when he was fighting and…'phew, is it getting hot in here or is it just me?'
Shinji really was good with a sword, knife, anything even remotely sharp and/or pointy in close combat really and it showed as Rei struggled to protect herself. All three of them acknowledged that while skilled compared to shinobi their age, or even quite a few older than themselves, Rei was weak in close combat so it was something they worked on quite regularly.
It was not a practice Rei enjoyed doing really, ever, she was already covered in red marks while the only red marks she had landed were smeared on Shinji practice katana, a sign of countless blocks and parries.
She held her kunai in an icepick grip and went for a slash. *Clang!* Which Shinji parried easily and he did not hold back, even when practicing against Rei. His sword was a lot heavier than her kunai and his hard parry set a shock down her arms and the former First Child felt it ring in her bones, causing her to grit her teeth in frustration. She pumped chakra in her left arm and launched a fist in Shinji's direction, hoping to make him fall back but in her frustration she forgot that in the years since they first met Naruto Shinji's fighting style had shifted slightly, becoming more aggressive. So she gasped in surprise as instead of Shinji backing off he charged right for her and grabbed her extended wrist, trapping her in her attack and using her own momentum to pull her towards his single handed-thrust.
"Shit," she softly swore, an event so rare it caught Shinji off guard, letting Rei use her lessons with Asuka to just barely avoid the thrust and do an over the shoulder judo throw on her former half-brother. Instead of slamming him into the ground though she just gave him more space, since he was the one grabbing her and not the other way around during the throw he simply let go and made a graceful back-flip before going back into an attack stance.
The former Third Child moved with a polished grace that made the boy who had saved Naruto when they were children and defeated a genin several years his elder seem like an unskilled civilian as he attacked Rei with a katana in hand while Rei drew a second kunai.
Shinji, seeing a chance sent a straight thrust into a gap in Rei's guard which she avoided by twisting her torso, not wanting to hold back since that would teach Rei nothing he transitioned into an icepick grip and made a quick horizontal slash. Rei attempted to pull back to gain space to work with but he used his one now free hand to pick up a kunai Rei had dropped and threw it at her. That caught Rei off guard, causing her to have to lean back to dodge the weapon and by the time she went to stand up she had Shinji's dull blade at her throat.
"…I *pant* concede…" Rei said as she breathed deeply.
"You did well Rei," Shinji smiled at her, he had seen a bit of disappointment leak into her eyes and the corner of her lips tug downwards slightly so he decided to encourage her. He wasn't lying either, he had confidence Rei could either defeat or hold off most enemies long enough for help to arrive if forced into melee combat if not win by herself outright. After all in the field she wasn't limited to her taijutsu and kunai, her ninjutsu and genjutsu was no joke. Besides he specialized in the very style of combat they had just practiced, if he lost then something had gone wrong with him, "so cheer up."
"Thank you," Rei blushed and walked back a few steps to pick up the training kunai that Shinji threw at her.
Shinji blushed too as Rei bent down, they had been training for the better part of the morning and so had gotten quite sweaty. Due to that her white shirt clung to her body and had turned see through and considering how Rei, just like she was in their old world, was quite…gifted in her chest Shinji couldn't help but look.
Asuka of course saw this and huffed with a little bit of jealousy. Oh sure she had long accepted the nature of their little threesome but that didn't mean she wasn't at all immune to a bit of jealousy. Unlike before though where she was enraged by it and ignored it she had grown to accept it now. In fact she had used it to fuel a little game for herself and with that little game in mind she smirked a bit as an idea came to her.
"Hey Baka Shinji!" she called out as she shifted herself up to sit on the table of the picnic table itself.
That snapped Shinji out of his hormone fueled staring.
"Yes Asuka?" he said as he turned to face his other girlfriend…the fact that he had even just one, never mind two, still amazed him.
"See something you like?" her smirk grew as she made a show of leaning back and crossing her legs one atop of the other, making sure to make a show of it. She knew Rei had her beat in the breast department, which irked her a little bit, but she knew that in the legs and overall body tone she won out due to her preference for taijutsu. That said Shinji's tone wasn't bad either and while he gawked at her she basically stripped him in her mind now that he wasn't dashing around.
When Shinji turned a deeper shade of red and started to do his best impression of a fish on dry land she fought the urge to laugh down and let him enjoy this little show, a cat grin on her face.
'Ah, turning his cute little head into mush is just TOO much fun,' Asuka thought to herself with amusement. 'Asuka and Rei: 1, Baka Shinji: 0.'
"Hey Wondergirl!" Asuka called out and Rei turned to her with her head cocked slightly to the side in the silent typically Rei show of curiosity that Asuka and Shinji and…well basically whoever met her found to be cute as hell.
"Yes?" Rei asked as she now stood beside and slightly to the front of Shinji, she had been watching his face turn red due to Asuka's display, wondering what was going on. She understood Asuka was flirting with Shinji but due to this being her first puberty and this being her first time in a romantic relationship she wasn't quite sure how to do it yet. So Rei being Rei she decided to just watch Asuka and Shinji and learn from them.
Since in Rei's opinion, Asuka and Shinji grew up with a 'normal' childhood, unlike herself.
Take that however you will.
"Nice team work," Asuka answered which confused Rei and Asuka sighed when she saw it, "I'll explain another time."
"Thank you Asuka," Rei smiled her little smile and Asuka's cheeks pinked a little. Rei missed this though as she turned to Shinji as she sensed familiar chakra signatures approach their home. "Shinji-kun Yugao-san, Kakashi-san and Asuma-san are here."
"Thanks for the food Shinji," Asuma sighed as he leaned back in his seat, content with another well done meal. Currently he was at the dining room of his adoptive little brother's home sitting in between Kakashi and Yugao, the two people who had probably had the biggest impact on the lives of the three children who sat opposite the three jonin. While having breakfast at his adopted little brother's home was actually a regular, at minimum monthly, affair the young genin-to-be's cooking still impressed him.
"Of course, what else would you expect?" Yugao grinned before leaning forward and ruffling Shinji's hair and making him blush in embarrassment. She too regularly had breakfast at the Shinji-Asuka-Rei household, sometimes with Asuma like today, but she did so as often as she could. "Anyone who can make food good enough for him," she motioned to her former ANBU captain, "eat slow enough to show that face he always hides is the Kage of the kitchen."
Kakashi just nodded in agreement, Shinji's cooking was just that good. In his list of favorite things it ranked just below the 'Make Out Tactics' series of books. Unlike when the children first met him he was no longer in the ANBU uniform, having left the group years ago. Now he was dressed mostly in the standard uniform of Konoha shinobi of dark blue long sleeved shirt, dark blue shinobi pants and green flak jacket like Asuma. Unlike the other jonin he was covering the lower half of his face with a dark blue face mask and his Konoha headband was tied slanted, covering one of his eyes.
"So," Yugao started as she took a sip of her coffee, Shinji subconsciously mirroring the action. That amused the other two jonins, Shinji really had turned out to be like a male mini-Yugao. Both love swords, are cold as steel in combat, and are kind and loving in everyday life. "How does it feel to be on the verge of being genin?"
"And let's be honest, you three are going to pass. Good luck regardless though," Asuma commented with a raising of his coffee mug.
"I'd say it's about time!" Asuka blew a stray strand of hair away from her face before, "Being in the academy was so boring!"
"Uh huh," Kakashi finally chimed in, his eyes not leaving his book. "It was boring so you sent a dozen kids to the hospital over the years you attended?"
"Pfft," Asuka waved him off, "they had it coming."
"…I'm sure."
"Shinji, Rei, what about you two?" Yugao asked the more quiet and most quiet of the young threesome. "Do you have any jonin-sensei you two would like to have?"
"Well," Shinji started, "Asuma-nii would be nice but I'm sure he would be given Ino-san, Shikamaru and Choji." He knew well the relationship between the three clans the three children were heirs to and his own adoptive clan, the Sarutobi. Plus being under family, adoptive or not, would possibly give signals of favoritism on the part of the Hokage who held final say over the genin teams. That was something he and the Hokage both knew the Sarutobi clan council would not like.
"Well we," Asuma started before nudging towards Kakashi, "don't know until the day we get our team assignments so I wouldn't count it out just yet. It would be fun having you kids, if anything I wouldn't have to spend a lot of time doing boring D-rank missions with you three."
The three children, even Rei who did so much more subtly, cringed at the thought of spending any amount of time doing D-rank missions. Ever since they had learned of Kakashi's exit from the ANBU force and re-entry into the regular Shinobi Forces as a jonin-sensei and Asuma's decision to take on the same role himself they had asked both of them of what they did with their genin teams. Well what Asuma did with his teams. Kakashi himself had never passed a genin team assigned to him, rejecting them all and sending them back to the academy, so he was more jonin-sensei in name at the moment as he performed the role of a normal jonin due to not having genins of his own.
From what they've heard from Asuma D-rank missions sounded absolutely awful.
In terms of difficulty D-rank was the easiest rating a mission could be given after the request was processed by village leaders, in fact they were so easy Asuka refused to call them missions at all and referred to them as 'jobs' instead. They were the most common missions that villages gave out and were usually the quickest and safest to complete and were assigned almost exclusively to a village's genin with their jonin-senseis being the only other shinobi to really do them. In fact it was expected for a genin entering the chunin exams, after already spending a few years as a genin, to have many many D-ranks under their belt with perhaps only one or two C-rank missions. D-rank missions offered very little, most often zero, risk to the shinobi performing them with no real possibility of combat of any kind. These 'missions' were usually the nature of various miscellaneous tasks such as repairing fences, weeding a garden, baby sitting and if one were lucky they would have to clear a house of pests.
At least then they could have some kind of action.
What made the children cringe though was the horror story of Tora, the cat the Daimyo of the Country of Fire (the home country of Konoha) had given to his wife a couple of years ago. According to Asuma the poor cat's owner is…over affectionate with Tora, to put things politely, which causes the cat to routinely escape and his owner to issue request after request to bring her back. As a result the cat had become quite quick and agile to escape genin as long as possible, jonin-sensei's usually not finding it worth their time to interfere past coordinating their teams, if that. Even when caught the feline fought tooth and nail for freedom, biting and scratching many a genin.
From what they had heard the 'Retrieve Tora ALIVE' mission had become a rite of passage of some kind.
…Needless to say Rei, Shinji and Asuka had a few plans already prepared already for Tora just in-case they would also get slammed by the mission.
"Heard of Tora I see," Asuma smirked, oh that was a fun mission to watch genin do.
"Who hasn't," Yugao grumbled, "you know her owner once tried to get ANBU to get her damn cat back?" She rubbed her temples, "seriously, the ANBU Black Ops, the best of the best. Shinobi who are assigned at the minimum A-rank missions! Trying to find a cat? Ugh…"
Kakashi just placed a hand on her shoulder, as the previous captain of Team Rho he knew all too well what she was talking about.
The wife of the Daimyo really liked cats and her husband knew it.
"What about Kurenai?" she changed topics before she went out and assassinated the cat that caught her ire. Rei answered her question.
"It would be beneficial for my training," Rei's quiet voice sounded in her typical calm tone with a touch of thoughtfulness, "Kurenai-sensei is skilled in genjutsu."
"Her specialty," Kakashi nodded.
"What about my old captain?" Yugao asked, nudging the reading jonin.
"Well," Asuka started, "it wouldn't be so bad, he already teaches us sometimes." Shinji and Rei nodded at that. "Still, if he does become our actual sensei I hope he starts showing up on time. Isn't that right, Hentai-sensei?" she smiled a sweet smile at the jonin in question whose one visible eye twitched at the nickname the girl had given him once she found out what his books were about.
"I would have no complaints," Kakashi wouldn't mind teaching the three. They were already familiar with the importance of team work so he wouldn't even need to run his favorite bell test.
He shivered as he remembered overhearing the kids plan for a similar kind of test after they had heard stories of the test the Third Hokage created. While he could survive what they had in mind…he did not want to explain to the Hokage why a simple test resulted in the destruction of an entire training ground.
The Academy
Rei looked at the Konoha head band, her Konoha head band, that she now held in her hand. A ghost of a smile appeared on her face as she walked out of the classroom after her graduation test. The headband was much like those of other shinobi villages, a rectangular metal plate with the village symbol engraved into it (in this case the Konoha leaf) on a cloth head band, in this case the same shade of blue that many Konoha shinobi shirts were.
"Earth to Wondergirl" Asuka's voice snapped Rei out of her wanderings. "How was it?"
Rei looked up to see Asuka waiting for her, leaning on a locker in the hallway, her arms crossed across her chest and a leg propped up against the wall as she was dressed in her preferred attire.
"Easy," came Rei's short response and Asuka rolled her eyes, not expecting much more than that.
"Were you disappointed Rei?" Asuka asked as she started to play with her hair and Rei noticed that Asuka had chosen to wear her headband around her neck, tied loosely like a scarf. She raised a curious brow at that, silently asking a question. After years of practice reading her Asuka caught it and followed her line of sight. "Oh, this? Why…are there rules on how to wear these? I think it looks kinda cute like this."
Rei wasn's surprised at the question, unlike herself and Shinji Asuka didn't care much for the rules she dubbed as 'minor'.
"No," came Rei's short reply.
"Good, 'cause I'm going to have Shinji replace the cloth band with a red one. Seriously, he cooks, cleans and can sow; maybe we're the husbands and he's our wife?"
Rei gave her a smile at that, not a small one, but a rare 'proper' smile and Asuka blushed again while laughing at the joke.
Eventually Rei stood beside Asuka, waiting for the last member of their trio, her headband still in her hand.
"…I was disappointed you know," Asuka started.
Rei blinked, "about the test?"
"Yeah…I mean I don't know what I was expecting but just the Clone Jutsu? I mean, come on! At least make it challenging right Rei?"
Rei blinked in confusion at that and cocked her head to the side, "you wanted a chance to fail?"
Asuka snapped her head at Rei's direction, did she really think they could fail? Asuka carefully reigned in her anger, reminding herself that Rei didn't mean to offend her and she took a deep breath…and counted to ten before exhaling. "…No Rei, I am not. NO chance we would fail after all we've been through if these kids can get through."
"...It is considered the most difficult E-rank ninjutsu taught at the Academy though, requiring good chakra control and concentration."
"I know but...I...I just…" she sighed, "I don't feel like I accomplished anything" She tapped at her headband, "after all we've learned to do…this is how we become real shinobi? Gottverdamnt Ninja?"
Rei nodded and let Asuka continue, she didn't know what to say but she had learned that sometimes all you needed to do was listen.
"I mean think about it, when I punch someone I can turn their insides into jelly, I can fucking breath fire like a dragon!" She then pointed at Rei, "you can heal wounds like magic Rei! And play with ice like that Disney princess from that movie…forgot the name, and our wife is like a human battery with a sword!"
"When you put it like that…" Rei nodded, finally understanding what had gotten Asuka upset. "It was no challenge." Rei thought about this morning where she fought Shinji and lost and tried to imagine how it would have felt to have landed a 'cut' on him, how proud of herself she would feel…and how even more frustrated if that happened and she found out he wasn't fighting her seriously…
"Finally," Asuka sighed as she noticed Rei thinking to herself and smiled a proud smile at her 'sister', living with Rei was interesting, seeing her constantly growing as a person. "How are you going to wear that anyway?" she pointed at Rei's headband and Rei simply tied it very loosely around her neck just like Asuka. That surprised her, she expected Rei to wear it around her forehead. That was the standard way to wear it as it was intended to offer some protection to the head, Asuka found the notion hilarious as any real skilled shinobi would render it useless.
"Good?" Rei turned to her and Asuka smiled.
"Damn good sister."
*Click* The two of them turned to the door as it opened, showing Shinji with a headband of his own in his hands.
"I passed," he gave them both a small smile, "should we wait for Naruto? He's right after me."
Sarutobi Clan Compound
Asuka stretched as she leaned on the counter, a manga held in one hand, at the kitchen while a pressure cooker sat on the stove. Times like these she wished she was in her old world, she was a little bored cooking dinner alone and there was no TV to watch or portable video game to play, thank Gott this world at least had manga for her to read.
Then she heard the door open.
"That you Rei?" she shouted.
"Yes," came the reply before she heard the door close and the rustle of plastic bags and soon enough Rei walked into the kitchen in her yukata with a pair of plastic bags.
"Thanks for picking those up," Asuka put down her manga and kicked off the counter to take the groceries from Rei so the bluenette could wash her hands. "Can't believe I forgot we ran out of these…" she murmured to herself as she put the bottles of sauces and containers of various spices away.
"It's understandable," Rei replied quietly. Rei knew the reason why Asuka forgot that she needed to buy some things after their graduation test for the 'Grand Feast' she had proclaimed she was going to treat them to to celebrate their graduation into the shinobi lifestyle, even if the test was found lacking in their eyes.
The reason she forgot was because she was angry, no, furious. After Shinji had passed the test they had decided to wait for Naruto. While they hadn't really trained with him they had taught him some things, mostly the basics like first aid, how to use a kunai and how to throw a proper punch. Still they had gotten a basic view on what he could do and they knew Naruto could do most of the jutsu the Academy taught. He was quite good at the Transformation Jutsu, and the stupid 'Sexy Jutsu' variant he invented, as well as the Substitution Jutsu but he was utter crap at the Clone Jutsu, the one that was chosen to be tested this year. And he had failed the test. Obviously they were sad for him, the trio kind of viewed Naruto as a sometimes annoying and always loud little brother and they sympathized with his lonely upbringing.
He was, after all, the host of the Kyuubi whose rampage caused deaths still felt by some.
It still didn't excuse the hate directed at him in their opinion and the parents who stayed around after school ended who talked in hushed tones about 'not being surprised' that the 'cursed child' didn't pass. Some even sounded happy, like the kid deserved it. That made Asuka grit her teeth at the sheer ignorance of the civilian adults, the children with shinobi parents having already left. It made Asuka want to snap some necks, even the more calm Shinji and Rei were seething but were busy trying to keep Asuka from trying to kill someone.
'Talking about shinobi life like they're experts when they're too cowardly to pick up a blade themselves,' she scoffed as she washed her hands after putting everything away, 'I'd like them to say that to Blondie's face, fucking cowards.'
Rei took a deep breath as Asuka seethed beside her, the girl's anger flowing through their bond like a raging river and she was reminded for the first time in a while how Asuka's temperament could be overwhelming to someone like herself. Rei had to admit, feeling emotions not wholly yours running through your head, a rage that was without purpose was...and an odd feeling. She felt her heart quicken, blood pumping through her veins faster, her body preparing to fight a fight she had no intention of starting. The former First Child knew she was more sensitive to the bond than her fellows, she guessed it was due to her nature as being a fragment of Lilith but it really was something else to feel some of the intense emotions coming off of either Asuka or Shinji, Asuka more often than not of course. She wondered what she could do to help Asuka calm down, 'Shinji would know what to do…'
Then she remembered something…
"Where is Shinji-kun?"
"Third is out, Yugao-nee wanted to give something to him. You know how she is with the Baka."
Rei nodded at that, the ANBU Captain was closer to Shinji, it wasn't exactly a secret.
"I see…"
Asuka frowned, Rei almost never faded off unless she was thinking over something, she was a precise person like that. "Something wrong Rei?"
"Yes," Rei nodded and turned to Asuka, a small frown on her face. "On my way home I sensed Mizuki-sensei together with Naruto-kun."
"That's odd," Asuka frowned as she turned the stove off, dinner done cooking. She put her hand on her chin as she looked at Rei, "they weren't close were they?" Rei shook her headed in the negative. "Yeah figured that much…"
Rei blinked at that, 'she is that attentive of others outside our group? Surprising.'
"…Why did I have a feeling you just thought something rude?"
"I have not."
"…Uh-huh, damn can't tell if you're serious or that's your poker face." Asuka shook her head, "anyway that's suspicious, I never liked Mizuki-sensei anyway."
Rei nodded, "his smiles and kindness are always fake." She should know, she had seen plenty of those faces from the people at NERV who had no idea how to interact with her, she was quite good at seeing them. She had told the others of that of course and as a result none of them liked their other teacher very much, trusting her word.
"Did you sense anything else?"
"His chakra felt…" she trailed off, recalling the feeling she had when she had managed to observe the two from a distance where she knew she wouldn't be detected, sadly she couldn't hear them either, "malicious."
"…Little vague but not a good sign."
"…Sorry Asuka."
Asuka sighed and gave Rei a quick hug, missing the small blush on Rei's cheeks as she didn't know how to react.
"Don't apologize Rei, you did the best you can," Asuka tried to reassure Rei, not knowing if it was working. This was Shinji's realm of expertise, the big marshmallow, she just hoped it didn't come off as awkward and forced to Rei as it did to her. Rei was surprisingly fragile Asuka found out in that she got discouraged by 'failures' easily and while she knew she was prone to that too Rei's definition of the word was a little too broad in her opinion. A part of her wondered if Rei picked that up during Third Impact from Shinji, gods she hoped not.
"T-Thank you, Asuka…"
Asuka was about to respond with a 'you're welcome' but the sound of two body flickers behind them caused them to break apart and turn around to see two of their ANBU security detail.
One of them stepped forward and spoke, "You've all been called by the Hokage-sama."
The two girls looked at each other, their brains going straight to the worst case scenario.
"Is Shinji ok?" Asuka asked for them both.
"Shinji-sama is fine, he will meet you both at the Hokage's office and please bring all of your equipment, Shinji-sama's as well."
Hokage's Office
"Any idea what could have caused this to happen Shinji-kun?" the Hokage asked, his pipe in one hand, and exhaled a puff of smoke as he sat behind his dask. Aross from him sat Shinji, who was looking down in thought, a frown on his face. Times like these he really was glad, more so than usual, that he had adopted Shinji's group since it gave him a much more direct idea on arguably the most important of Konoha's youth.
The host of the Kyuubi.
"No not really. He failed the graduation test but…" Shinji trailed off.
"Stealing a scroll isn't going to fix that."
"Exactly, even if some people think he is Naruto isn't stupid, an idiot yes but not stupid."
The Hokage blinked at that and raised a brow, "is there a difference?"
"Asuka said people who do dumb things but realize its dumb are idiots. People who act dumb and never realise are stupid," he said with a small smile.
"Haha," the older man chuckled, that did sound like one of his two daughter-in-laws…boy that was an odd thought but he supposed he was getting on in his years. Maybe that was just how the young were now?
"Naruto likes to cause trouble but he wouldn't do something like this, even he should know that this is serious. So the question is why would he?," Shinji replied before the door clicked open and in walked Asuka and Rei kitted out with their gear and ready for combat, their Konoha headbands around their necks. Asuka's had been changed for a red one while Rei's was the standard blue, liking how it matched the light blue of her Yukata. They also had Shinji's katana with him, the sheathed blade held in Rei's hands.
"Hokage-sama," Rei gave a respectful bow.
Shinji made to stand, there was only one seat and he felt bad for taking it from one of the girls but Asuka just put her hands on his shoulders from behind and pushed him back down, eliciting a surprised squawk.
"I'm no princess," Asuka commented, "first come first serve and all that."
Shinji then turned to Rei who just shook her head.
"What's that?" Asuka asked as she saw the Konoha headband tied around Shinji's left sleeve like a bandanna. It didn't look brand new at all, the metal plate covered in light scratches while the cloth band was black.
"Oh this?" Shinji replied, "um...Yugao-nee wanted to give it to me."
"Shinji...are you cheating on me and Rei for your favorite sensei?"
"What?!" Shinji waved his hands in front of him, "NO! Of course not! I would never!"
"...I think she was joking," Rei remarked and Shinji pouted at Asuka who ignored him, having already gotten her amusement.
So," Asuka crossed her arms, "what happened?"
Rei then handed the sword to Shinji who gratefully accepted it and he couldn't help but smile as he held the sword in his hands. He had sworn to continue using the ninjato Yugao gave him as his everyday carry until he became a proper shinobi and now he was one wasn't he? The sword's name was Yunagi, meaning 'evening calm', and was forged by himself (with some help) and named by Rei since all of Asuka's name suggestions were German, to no one's surprise.
Shinji carefully unsheathed the blade as the Hokage filled in Rei and Asuka on the situation. Yunagi is a non-standard katana with a slightly straighter curve to the blade to give the cut-centric design a better performance in the thrust. At 75 centimetres she was also slightly longer than the longest standard katana and he had also sharpened the normally dull reverse edge for the last 5 centimetres to the tip for more piercing power. Other than those modifications Yunagi was a standard sword of the style with a circular guard made of steel with two feather's engraved on either side of the blade, one inset with blue and the other with red enamel while black leather was wrapped around the ray skin covered hilt which was capped with a steel pommel.
He turned the blade slightly, the blade catching the light in a way that allowed him to see the uncountable layers in the blade formed by folding the steel hundreds of times. Satisfied and hearing the Hokage finishing his recounting he returned Yunagi to its scabbard made of wood and covered in black metal to protect it whenever he used it for blocking or deflecting attacks.
"Rei," Asuka said as Yunagi was sheathed with a click, "tell everyone what you told me."
And so she told the Hokage and Shinji about Mizuki and Naruto.
"That's troubling," the Hokage rubbed his chin, "Mizuki has already come into suspicion in the past so we've held back his career since we have no proof."
"Naruto-kun is naïve," Rei frowned, "Mizuki-sensei tricking him is…not unlikely."
"Anyone who knows him," Shinji started, "will know Naruto wants to be a shinobi more than anything."
"Exactly," the Hokage nodded before standing up with a serious face. Shinji stood up straight, Asuka and Rei also doing so at his side, the three could read the mood.
"As of this moment I am issuing you three a mission. You primary objective: retrieve Naruto Uzumaki while the scroll retrieval will be your secondary objective. You are not to engage Mizuki unless necessary. This mission will be considered Rank C. Do you accept?"
The three children looked at each other before Asuka and Rei turned their gaze to Shinji who blinked before nodding, realizing what they meant and clipped Yunagi onto his belt before turning to the Hokage.
"We accept, Hokage-sama."
"Hm," the Hokage sat back into his seat after the children left. "Cat."
At his call six ANBU operatives clad in full gear appeared out of the shadows, kneeling before their lord. The small elite squad of six, Cat also known as Yugao now at its head, waited silently for their orders. She was concerned for the children she viewed as her own family but kept her piece, waiting for her mission, she would just have to hope all the training was enough.
"Cat, Mouse," the Hokage started, "I want you two to trail the children just in case they encounter Mizuki. Don't show yourselves unless necessary, this will be a good chance to test Naruto's character if he did steal the scroll due to some lie Mizuki told him. While I do trust Shinji and the children's assessment," he said the last part knowing he might have offended a certain member of the team, "I do want to see it for myself. This is the first real test to his character. Hopefully Shinji, Rei and Asuka have kept him mentally sound with their friendship...the villagers certainly haven't help. I also see what the…specialized training the three had received has produced."
"Yes Hokage-sama," came Cat's reply.
It was no secret to him the children received as much training as those born in the village's greatest shinobi clans like the Hyuga except the children's education was more broad as there was no clan ability to focus on. A below average Chunin should serve as a good test for all four children and if Naruto performed well he could easily pull strings to get him to pass. He also hoped having an ANBU report on Naruto and the three kids in their favour would support his insistence that Naruto be raised like any other villager instead of being confined to the village and get the Sarutobi clan council to shut up for a while.
"Dragon I know it's your last day before retirement but I want you to take Hawk to search the village for Mizuki if he's still here."
"And if we find him, Hokage-sama?" Dragon asked.
"Try to bring him in alive."
"Understood."
"Hm," the Hokage nodded, "dismissed!"
And with that four of the six ANBU operatives flickered out of the room, the other two blending back into the shadows.
Next - V1 Chapter 3: Blowing Up Sensei
By the way, to those wanting scenes with Rei being badass then don't worry, you'll get that next chapter!
This was an interesting chapter to write in that its the first showing canonical Naruto events. I actually reread the relevant chapter for this. That said I didn't want to just copy and paste it so we only really got the scene with the Hkage monument and Naruto getting Shinji to actually snap and the scene with the scroll which we will be seeing the end of in the next scene.
Nothing really to say here but this was a bit of a tricky chapter to write as I wanted to display a few things. One is the fact that Asuka and Rei also have to sacrifice something due to Shinji's adoption to the Sarotobi clan. The other is the effect that Asuka has on Rei and Shinji and that Shinji has on Asuka. We've already seen that Asuka is more mellow this time around so I also wanted to show Shinji's...uh softness rubbing off on her while at the same time showing that she's rubbed off a bit on Shinji and Rei as well.
That said I just couldn't really see Rei picking up a temper so Shinji kinda has while Rei has picked up a bit of the part of Asuka does a bit on the sadistic side.
It was a fun chapter to write as well since I got to think up their outfits. I wanted to make Asuka and Rei opposites in that regard, just like how they are opposites of each other. I wanted to show that with more than just colour too. Asuka likes to show skin and show off her body while Rei is more conservative, not showing nearly as much skin, preferring to dress more elegantly.
Also any Negima fans? Shinji's sword Yunagi is named after the sword Setsuna uses in the series if anyone is wondering where the name came from.
Anyway see you all next time!