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Sarutobi Hiruzen removed his pipe from his mouth, opening his mouth slightly and blowing out a ring of smoke as he overlooked Konoha from his office window. The village had recovered tremendously from the Kyuubi's attack but it still had a ways to go. Construction was still going strong and the guards stationed around the village was almost double what it used to be, but the will of fire was strong within the village, for the most part. Konohagakure had been dealt a large blow. The Fourth Hokage and so many other brave shinobi had met their demise from the creature's wrath. Despite the show they were putting on, the village's strength was reduced to half, maybe even less.
With so many valuable shinobi lost, Hiruzen was forced to slow down the village's intake of missions, leading to not only a loss of funds but other villages potentially sniffing around. They could smell the blood in the water, they knew that Konoha was weakened and he feared that they would suffer an attack from one of the other shinobi villages, one they could not fend off. Luckily, the Academy had produced quite a few Konoha shinobi who were ready to take off into the world and tackle whatever missions come there way. But this too left Hiruzen with a problem, one he hoped that his answer would solve.
All Shinobi squads were formed in a way that took strengths, weaknesses, and personalities into account. The top student wouldn't be ranked with the second best, but instead with the worst student in the class. The brightest with the least intelligent, the fastest with the slowest. This was done to make sure all bases were covered on the squad, and in the hope that they would help each other grow past their weaknesses. They were assigned to a Jonin best suited to maximize their growth and make sure they knew what it meant to be a shinobi of the leaf. For the most part, the Academy students this year fit perfectly into that rubric. All bases were covered...except for three whom Hiruzen himself, God of Shinobi, the Professor, couldn't fit into any of the other groups without ruining team symmetry across the board.
So, that's why those three were lumped into a team together, and boy what a team it was. Two refugees, a quiet girl, and a troublemaker, not to mention rowdy young lady from the Uzumaki clan. He was afraid to admit that he was afraid. The symmetry was...non-existent, the team could very well end up being a big ball of chaos. But hopefully, the Jonin he'd selected would be able to keep them in check and alive.
That was who he was waiting on. Namikaze Yuki had been given files on all three, but today he would be meeting his new squad in person for the first time. It was imperative that they did so under Hiruzen's eye because they wouldn't have much time to truly get to know each other outside of this moment for a while. The village had work that needed to be done right away so this meeting needed to go as smoothly as possible. The mission he was sending them on was a difficult one.
As Hiruzen turned away from the window he could hear the faint shuffle of footsteps. They were light as a feather, but to his trained ears it was enough to give away the presence of an intruder, and he had a sneaking suspicion as to who it was. "Itsuki, I do hope you're not doing anything stupid." He asked the question, knowing the answer full well. Of course, he was.
"Of course I'm not!" The voice replied, ripe with irritation. Itsuki had hoped to arrive undetected, maybe even early, and set up a prank. Unfortunately, the old man had heard him climb onto the rooftop, even though he was as quiet as he could. "Ears like a cat..." He grumbled, climbing into the room through the window.
"How ironic..." Hiruzen chuckled, shaking his head. "Maybe one day you'll be able to sneak up on me, but not today." He reached out to pat the boy on the head, but Itsuki moved his head out of the way much to his chagrin and irritation. Instead of asking him about it, he sighed and smiled. "In any case, I'm glad your early, even if it is only by a few minutes. Today, you are a full-fledged ninja. Your first mission will be pretty advanced, but I think-"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready." Itsuki rolled his eyes, interrupting the old man. "Advanced is what someone like me needs. I'm a Genin, but I'm a bit more skilled than your average newbie." He smirked. His eyes suddenly lit up when he saw the doorway. "Ahh..." A small prank could still be played, so long as the old man didn't snitch him out.
A bit of wire, thin enough to be almost invisible to the human eye was attached at just the right height of the doorway. If one didn't notice it, they would most definitely trip over it. The Third Hokage sighed as he watched the boy set up the simple prank. Should he say something?
Nah, not this time. They needed to know exactly who their teammate was, and this would at least give them a message, whether they fell for it or not. He just hoped it didn't result in a fight.
"I hope this isn't a mistake..."
With so many valuable shinobi lost, Hiruzen was forced to slow down the village's intake of missions, leading to not only a loss of funds but other villages potentially sniffing around. They could smell the blood in the water, they knew that Konoha was weakened and he feared that they would suffer an attack from one of the other shinobi villages, one they could not fend off. Luckily, the Academy had produced quite a few Konoha shinobi who were ready to take off into the world and tackle whatever missions come there way. But this too left Hiruzen with a problem, one he hoped that his answer would solve.
All Shinobi squads were formed in a way that took strengths, weaknesses, and personalities into account. The top student wouldn't be ranked with the second best, but instead with the worst student in the class. The brightest with the least intelligent, the fastest with the slowest. This was done to make sure all bases were covered on the squad, and in the hope that they would help each other grow past their weaknesses. They were assigned to a Jonin best suited to maximize their growth and make sure they knew what it meant to be a shinobi of the leaf. For the most part, the Academy students this year fit perfectly into that rubric. All bases were covered...except for three whom Hiruzen himself, God of Shinobi, the Professor, couldn't fit into any of the other groups without ruining team symmetry across the board.
So, that's why those three were lumped into a team together, and boy what a team it was. Two refugees, a quiet girl, and a troublemaker, not to mention rowdy young lady from the Uzumaki clan. He was afraid to admit that he was afraid. The symmetry was...non-existent, the team could very well end up being a big ball of chaos. But hopefully, the Jonin he'd selected would be able to keep them in check and alive.
That was who he was waiting on. Namikaze Yuki had been given files on all three, but today he would be meeting his new squad in person for the first time. It was imperative that they did so under Hiruzen's eye because they wouldn't have much time to truly get to know each other outside of this moment for a while. The village had work that needed to be done right away so this meeting needed to go as smoothly as possible. The mission he was sending them on was a difficult one.
As Hiruzen turned away from the window he could hear the faint shuffle of footsteps. They were light as a feather, but to his trained ears it was enough to give away the presence of an intruder, and he had a sneaking suspicion as to who it was. "Itsuki, I do hope you're not doing anything stupid." He asked the question, knowing the answer full well. Of course, he was.
"Of course I'm not!" The voice replied, ripe with irritation. Itsuki had hoped to arrive undetected, maybe even early, and set up a prank. Unfortunately, the old man had heard him climb onto the rooftop, even though he was as quiet as he could. "Ears like a cat..." He grumbled, climbing into the room through the window.
"How ironic..." Hiruzen chuckled, shaking his head. "Maybe one day you'll be able to sneak up on me, but not today." He reached out to pat the boy on the head, but Itsuki moved his head out of the way much to his chagrin and irritation. Instead of asking him about it, he sighed and smiled. "In any case, I'm glad your early, even if it is only by a few minutes. Today, you are a full-fledged ninja. Your first mission will be pretty advanced, but I think-"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready." Itsuki rolled his eyes, interrupting the old man. "Advanced is what someone like me needs. I'm a Genin, but I'm a bit more skilled than your average newbie." He smirked. His eyes suddenly lit up when he saw the doorway. "Ahh..." A small prank could still be played, so long as the old man didn't snitch him out.
A bit of wire, thin enough to be almost invisible to the human eye was attached at just the right height of the doorway. If one didn't notice it, they would most definitely trip over it. The Third Hokage sighed as he watched the boy set up the simple prank. Should he say something?
Nah, not this time. They needed to know exactly who their teammate was, and this would at least give them a message, whether they fell for it or not. He just hoped it didn't result in a fight.
"I hope this isn't a mistake..."
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