CHAPTER 3

Aburame Shino was panting on the grass. Hinata handed him a water bottle which he took with a muttered thank you. His spar with their sensei had been illuminating. He had understood the gap between himself and his sensei. Hinata had sparred earlier and her performance had been good, she had decent taijutsu and her byakugan made their sensei's illusions ineffective against her.

But he had expected that Hinata was the heiress of a clan with a rich history. She had been trained since childhood to reach her potential. But, he was most intrigued by their third teammate.

Shinso Ken was a no-name for most people, at least all those people who weren't paying attention. He had no flair, his features were common, simple black hair, good height, dark brown eyes, and he mostly had a bored expression on his face.

He looked at him as he got ready to fight their sensei> Kurenai sensei for her part was looking as fresh as when this exercise had started. Shinso Kun got into his stance and he could sense their sensei getting ready as well.

Both of them had sparred in the class as well, but he had always felt that Shinso Kun had always held back. Now he could judge just how much.

Kurenai watched as the last of her students got ready. His eyes were focused and had an unusual spark in them. She was still intrigued by him. She tensed her muscles, chakra brimming beneath them heightening her perception just before she saw her student vanish.

She jumped to avoid a sweeping kick, but the follow-up attacks tested her defense. His taijutsu was good, much better than anticipated. His assault continued while she continued to dodge most of his blows. They were efficient, showing hours and hours of dedication.

She jumped back and threw several shurikens and he had to use a substitution Jutsu to get away. A single-hand seal for that Jutsu. It was not difficult but few focused on the most basic of the three jutsus. People usually focused on flashier techniques forgetting the importance of basics.

He reached into his back pocket and took out a scroll, she did not interrupt him. She wanted to see what he was capable of.

"I just got this yesterday, so might be a little rusty but no matter." He said as a sword puffed into existence.

It was a short sword, though its length was slightly greater. He was well trained with a sword. He rushed towards her with an upward slash which she dodged and then took out a kunai to parry the next one. This continued for some time. The clash of metal, as both of them, were locked in a clash, and she was about to overpower him.

A kunai was coming toward her, she had to disengage and as she did she kicked him and he was pushed back. She looked up and was shocked to see a third arm arising from his shoulder.

"That took more out of me than I thought," she could hear him mutter to himself. The arm vanished as he pushed the sword back into the scabbard at his side.

She readied herself, she could feel chakra gathering at his feet. It was giving out a thrumming voice. She saw him smirk and speak in a clear voice.

"Ninpo: Bankai" And he vanished. But instead of rushing towards her, she saw him colliding with a tree, she smiled seeing him rubbing his head as he got up. Since when have I been under a genjutsu sensei?"

He was still trying to get up when the tree behind him suddenly started falling. He looked back and looked proud of himself. "Well, at least the technique works."

She was shocked. A clean cut, against a chakra tree, was difficult. This probably involved both shape and nature manipulation. She needed to re-evaluate him.

"He picked up the sword and put it back into the scabbard." The match was over. She had gotten a good measure of her team.

Hinata was just as she remembered her. She was shy and hesitant. Her taijutsu was good yet she lacked the aggressiveness of a shinobi. Her attacks were good if not simple, but she was solid overall.

Shino was another clan kid. His taijutsu was solid and his grasp over his clan's special Kekkei Genkai gave him a special edge. She would just have to push him to be more open.

But, she had been impressed by Shinso the most, the boy was checking his sword as he sat along with Hinata and Shino. She had expected him to be at the level of a clan kid. For most initial ninjas that were considered good enough. Without a can or ninja relative, it was difficult to adjust to the life of a ninja. He was not able to just match but surpass, other genins his age was something he should be proud of.

She moved towards them, and they sat straighter.

"It was a good spar. All three of you showed a good range of skills, there is much that can be improved on but for today that is enough. From tomorrow team eight will start taking missions. Plus I want each of you to think about what you have observed from today's exercise and what you would like to improve on. We will discuss it tomorrow as well."

All of them nodded," Yes, sensei."

She smiled and dismissed them for the day. She had a lot to think about.

Kakashi stared at the book, in his hand barely keeping up with the voices around him.

Have you heard about Mizuki? Isn't that a shame….

Did the gossip mill ever stop? He looked opposite him at Leaf's worst-kept secret. Asuma and Kurenai were probably seconds from jumping into a bed.

"So how was your team Asuma,?" he asked. He had gotten lucky, all clan heirs with well-established combinations. He was damn lucky.

Asuma and Kurenai seemed to finally remember that they were not alone. Asuma coughed, probably from inhaling some smoke from that cigarette.

Cough. Cough.

"Well, they are good. Peacetime good but still good." He remarked as Kurenai handed him water.

Peacetime and wasn't that the biggest joke he had ever heard? There was no peacetime, only because no large-scale invasions were going on did it mean that there was peace. That there was no shinobi fighting.

It was a lie that the higher-ups used to reassure the people. The world was always resting on a knife's edge.

"Hmm, well that was to be expected. What about you Kurenai, how was your team?" he remembered his discussion with lord third.

Kurenai looked at him, her eyes squinting as adopted a thoughtful expression, "Do they teach special classes on control and nature manipulation in the academy these days?"

"They should cover control but I don't think they cover anything beyond basics regarding shape and nature manipulation," Asuma replied as he leaned forward to look at her with questioning eyes.

"One of my students used a special technique. It was something of an Iaijutsu." Ahh and now Kakashi understood the reason for her question."It probably involved some shape and nature manipulation."

Asuma had his brows knit together, "Is he from a clan?"

She shook her head and looked straight at him, "Could he be from there?"

There is another of Konoha's taboos.

"Well, there has been disbanded for some time and I can confirm both officially and unofficially that he is not from there."

He could see her visibly relax. The tension left her shoulders.

"Well, go on don't leave us hanging, tell us more about this prodigy of yours," Asuma said as he ate.

"Well, he attacked me .. .. . . . "

He listened closely noting the information for reference. By the end of it, it seemed that there was a new star on the rise.

His thoughts went back to the cluster--k that was his team and he groaned, it seems that he had been unlucky. Let's just hope they could learn.