[X] Plan Literally Kicking Ass
-[X][Team] "-Team Seven A will be Kuwabara Sarutobi, Rukia Hatake, and Sakura Haruno." Kuwabara is loud, proud, and of course of the famed Sarutobi clan, while you have interacted with Rukia less, but know the girl is occasionally outspoken, and a third or fourth generation ninja, neither civilian nor from any recognizable clan.
-[X][Strength] Your Taijutsu skills.
-[X][Weakness] Your Genjutsu skills (Cannot be taken with strength in the same)
The Bell Test
Kuwabara abruptly collects himself from looking around, and bows deeply to your new sensei. "No, sensei. No trouble at all." Rukia seems inclined to disagree, before Kuwabara stomps her foot not terribly discreetly and she begrudgingly nods her agreement.
It takes you a moment to recover from your surprise, and when you do, Orochimaru gestures for the three of you to follow him. Orochimaru-sensei, you mentally correct after a moment. You'll have to get used to that.
Orochimaru-sensei leads the three of you out to a training field. Konoha, of course, has many training fields, as befits a ninja village. You briefly study the field, having not been to this one before as it is not one of the academy's ones. It's probably for the more general population of graduated ninja, based on your reading... Orochimaru-sensei interrupts your thoughts as he comes to a halt by a river, and speaks, saying "A Jonin is entitled to employ any final test they wish. You have not, by graduating the academy, earned the right to a teacher. You have merely shown you may be worth a Jonin's attention."
Kuwabara and Rukia both bristle at that, which confuses you, especially when neither says anything. Well, admittedly Orochimaru-sensei is intimidating, but didn't they read the rules...?
After a moment, sensei interrupts your thoughts by pulling out a pair of bells. "The test you face is to retrieve one of these bells. You may use any methods you have to do so."
He ties the bells to his hip, before assuming an unfamiliar taijutsu stance. "My standards are high. I suggest you take the exercise seriously. You will pass or fail my test as a team. You may ask one question each before we begin."
You exchange glances with your fellow teammates. Rukia winds up stepping forward first, saying "Why two bells?"
Orochimaru-sensei chuckles lightly, before saying "Nostalgia. Next question."
Kuwabara glances at you, before vaguely gesturing you forward. You raise your hand and wait to be called on, as is proper. Orochimaru, with an undertone of amusement, says "Yes, Sakura-chan?"
You swallow nervously. "As our teacher, what strategy would you recommend for taking the bells?"
Orochimaru says with a tone of perfect seriousness "An effective one." You refrain from frowning, as you conclude this must be part of the test. Surely the legendary Orochimaru knows how to teach?
Kuwabara raises a hand, but without waiting to be called on, says "Why pick us? You can't tell me one of the Sanin has no choice in Genin teams and expect me to believe it."
Orochimaru-sensei raises an eyebrow, before saying "A shrewd question. The answer is classified. You may begin, students."
You raise your eyebrows in surprise, and then your teammates all but haul you off your feet and into the bushes.
Rukia says "We need a plan."
Kuwabara nods grimly. "One of the Old Man's students? There's no way we touch a hair on his head if we go in willy nilly. He's probably listening to us right now, but... Well, we still gotta give it our best shot. Sakura-san, I know you're the best of the civilian kids at Taijutsu, you happen to have any extracurricular skills?"
Rukia snorts, before saying "Her? There's no way Haruno knows anything she didn't read out of a textbook." She hesitates, before saying "I... happen to know some water-style."
Kuwabara raises an eyebrow in apparent surprise, but whatever exactly surprises him, he doesn't speak aloud, leaving you with the frustrated sense that there's a secret conversation passing right over your head. You express that frustration by rounding on Kuwabara, before saying "So what do you know then? Isn't it breaking the rules to learn outside the curriculum?", feeling a bit lost at the idea that your fellow classmates have in fact been learning things from anyone other than your teachers.
Rukia interrupts before he can speak, saying "Even if it were, you think that'd stop the clans? They'd just cheat and get promotions for doing a good job hiding it. We're ninja, Haruno."
Kuwabara shrugs a bit helplessly. "I mean, yeah. I wouldn't say it so tactlessly-" he pointedly looks at Rukia, before continuing "-but all the clans pass down their techniques early. That's how it is. I mean, obviously my reserves are too low for combat relevant Fire Style, even bein' ahead of the age curve, but I know some stuff. Figures a kid with two civilian parents like you wouldn't know anything, though."
You frown, before saying irritably "But I have a ninja parent. My mother is a retired Genin."
Rukia looks at you like you've grown a second head while Kuwabara frowns pityingly. Rukia speaks first, saying "But... How? You're so... Civilian like!"
Kuwabara sighs, looking like he wants to smack someone upside the head. "Tact, Rukia-san. " a pause, before saying "Also probably not the time. We can exchange history lessons after we figure out our strategy..."
Rukia frowns, but nods agreement, and you all turn your focus to strategy...
Interlude
Orochimaru was not, it must be said, new to Genin teams. While he considered it too inconvenient to spend all of his time on the topic, occasionally Hiruzen Sarutobi or Jiraiya would bribe and/or blackmail him into taking a new team, every few years. So he had trained a few teams.
His standards are always high. Many would even say his expectations are unreasonable. And of course, he generally carefully considered what sort of students seemed likely to be worth his time.
Of course, he did somewhat exaggerate his eccentricity, in an effort to decrease the ability to analyze the reasons behind his moves in all things. That was just the sort of thing most high level ninja did, when one thought about it.
Regardless, the man was a legendary ninja, and so it is predictable that he would not actually be unaware of the scheming of freshly minted Genin who did not even have a distraction prepared for themselves. Still, it did give them points in his book they would even try. Plotting in the open was a sadly common rookie mistake.
At such times as when taking students fresh out of the academy, Orochimaru was apt to find himself musing on what experiments he could run were he to be in charge of the academy itself. What results would one see if students were forced to conceal their identity? What outcomes would result from stricter requirements to socialize? Of course, Jiraiya would never sign off on half the ideas, especially the most interesting, and so Orochimaru had little real interest in arguing for the position for himself, especially as the impetus invariably led him to consider his new team.
Nostalgia led him to consider parallels to his own days as a Genin. Obviously, there were more differences than similarities, and so this was not an especially useful way to think of things, but parallels existed.
The Sarutobi child's orange hair was atypical of his clan. Orochimaru could tell by scent that it was dyed, though that only confirmed what his old sensei had told him when he was considering the team in the first place. The boy apparently believed the dyed hair would cause him to gain an advantage against other Ninja who he hoped would take him as vain. Orochimaru thought Jiraiya might see himself in the child, but Orochimaru saw Tsunade in the boy ninja; loud, proud, quick to take up the leadership position, and from an established clan background? The parallels were numerous, even before the boy's age atypical level of Chakra and reported physical stamina.
For his age, he was also quite tall, though while the boy certainly trained, he was not unusually strong for an academy graduate. In fact, he happened to be the exact middle in strength of the male half of the class, the gender cross comparison was somewhat more complex and, to Orochimaru's judgement, less useful.
Regardless, the second team member, the Hatake child. Orochimaru considered, and was forced to admit the closest parallel was to himself. Neither civilian born nor from an established clan, naturally talented and with few friends upon graduation. The girl still had her parents so far as he knew, of course, and he was never so short as she (smallest by height in the entire academy year, according to the records), but even the fact that she had black hair was strictly a parallel.
The girl performed well on Ninjutsu and poorly on Genjutsu, and was roughly average on Taijutsu.
This left the young Haruno child as the analogue to Jiraiya. From a functionally civilian background, given her mother having passed on no secrets whatsoever and her father being an actual civilian, and yet with a relatively monstrous amount of natural physical ability... Of course, Jiraiya was never the strongest at the books, yet like Jiraiya the girl excelled in Taijutsu and had absolutely abysmal skill in Genjutsu. Should the team need a Genjutsu specialist, the role would have to fall to young Kuwabara, Orochimaru mused.
His musings were brought to and end as he decided it was time to focus on the Genin more directly.
The Haruno child was reported to have high marks in Taijutsu, but as Orochimaru engaged the Genin in battle, he realized that the reports rather understated the matter. The academy style was traditionally held to be, essentially speaking, worthless as anything other than a basic training aid. Ninja did not give out techniques easily, and so it was naturally the case that anything that a ninja academy taught was either so common as to give no competitive advantage to conceal (because all your enemies could be assumed to already know it, so you may as well teach your allies), or so useless as to not be a risk if possessed by an enemy.
The academy style was the latter. It was actually originally invented by the Third Hokage himself, and serves to give an advantage to a newly trained ninja over mere civilians, be viable for general fitness, and be a gateway to learning other, superior styles. It was in literal terms designed to be inferior to all actual clan styles as well as pretty much anything else practiced by actual Ninja, Jonin generally teach other, more suitable styles to their Genin if the students don't already know other styles from family or other interested figures.
Were it not for the physical gap, Orochimaru would probably actually have to take the fight seriously. The Haruno girl's form was seemingly perfect, the textbook image of the style and with tremendously little wasted energy. While there was no creativity to the execution, the execution was without flaw itself.
The Sarutobi child kept Orochimaru busy with what was admittedly effective use of shuriken. Realizing that Orochimaru would at least have more difficulty hanging onto the bells if he actually had to use his hands, the obvious goal was to cut the strings, and for a Genin his accuracy was adequate. Even above average.
The Hatake child steadily moved into position to flank him. By Genin standards, it wasn't a bad job at stealth, but with the skill gap, he was never going to be legitimately surprised. So as he mentally counted off the hand-seals, noting which possible jutsu this could lead to, he was well prepared for the resultant water-style jutsu.
Later...
You collapse to your knees, gasping for air. Kuwabara bonelessly falls onto his back. Rukia leans against a tree.
Orochimaru-sensei, not a single hair out of place, pulls a small notebook out in response. More than an hour later and none of you have retrieved either bell.
Rukia gasps out a few words accusatorily, "Sensei, was this even possible?"
Orochimaru chuckles lightly. "No, probably not. But it was informative."
You frown. "So... we failed?" What are you going to do now? Does this mean you get sent back to the academy, or-
Orochimaru interrupts. "Well, that depends on what you mean. You did fail at the task I assigned, yes. But it is a poor ninja who bets it all on one battle. Congratulations, students. We will meet at this training field at dawn each day henceforth."
Kuwabara mutters under his breath "Oh great. He really is the Old Man's apprentice."
Orochimaru blinks twice in surprise, before bursting out into uncharacteristically deep laughter. Eventually, he composes himself, wiping a tear from his eye before saying "Yes, I suppose Sarutobi-sensei would do this, wouldn't he?"
Two Weeks Later
D Rank missions, you decide, suck. You haven't said a word against them (that would be against regulations), but they really, really suck.
Especially because Orochimaru doesn't even watch you. He just writes in a little notebook while you do the generally tedious drudgework. Why are people even hiring Ninja for half these tasks, anyways?
"Uuuugh, D-Ranks suck, why." Rukia says as she negligently enters a training stance, either too tired or too lazy to do it crisply. Orochimaru has departed for some manner of top-secret business. leaving you three to train without him.
You can't quite bring yourself to agree out loud; it wouldn't be proper. But, apparently, Kuwabara sees it on your face. "Oh, right. You guys aren't clan kids. I forgot for a week there."
Rukia rolls her head to look at him while continuing her katas. "What, does the great and powerful Sarutobi clan tell little brats how much it hates us?" she says, clearly still annoyed by the latest round of D-Ranks. And, in fairness, you're not sure how cleaning the plates at a restaurant, walking dogs, or planting crops bare handed are supposed to be ninja work.
Kuwabara stands up straighter than usual, rubbing the back of his head a bit awkwardly. "Uh, kinda? Not what you said, but what you mean, I think? Well, not in so many words either..."
You stare at him uncharacteristically annoyed. "What are you getting at, Sarutobi-san?"
Sarutobi-san glances back and forth between the two of you clearly struggling to find the best way to phrase things. Then he looks around suspiciously, before saying "Look, you can't tell literally anyone I said this. I could get in big trouble. Ninja ranks is just the first layer, yeah?" You stare blankly at him. He sighs, before saying "Okay like, clan politics are cuthroat. Sometimes literally. And it's not just the clans that get in on it. Old teammates, idealogical clubs, the list goes on... Anyways, the point is you have five kinds of missions and three and a half ranks, right?"
Rukia nods impatiently. "Everyone knows that, even the civilians."
You raise your head "What do you mean, 'and a half'?"
Rukia glances over at you "Well you wouldn't call the Hokage a Jonin, right?"
You nod slowly. That makes sense. "But there's only one of him."
Kuwabara gestures vaguely "Right, so 'and a half'. But you've got D, C, B, A, and S ranks. So who does what? Well, on paper, Genin do D and C, Chunin do C and B, and Jonin do B and A and nobody actually does S, but obviously that's stupid. What actually happens is we don't advertise the full rank logic. Brats like us do D ranks, which show that Konoha has a strong, large new generation of Ninja to throw into battle if anyone wants to have a go at us. Real Genin do mostly C. D ranks also, uh." He glances around furtively, but is apparently satisfied you're actually alone "Well, we spy on the civilians. Think about all those after mission reports. Really detailed, right? So if, say, another village sends an agent we haven't heard of as a merchant..."
Rukia seems to get it "...The mission office already knows what's going on with civilians. They get to look for suspicious movements without being seen looking." She rubs her forehead. "That's weird, but I kinda get it. So you're saying, like, C ranks are actual Genin missions? What about the rest? B as Chunin?"
Kuwabara nods a little. "Right, C is Genin or Chunin who are recovering and stuff. Wounds, pregnancies, that kinda thing. B is the serious Chunin missions but we sometimes send Jonin who need recovery... or just to keep the other villages guessing, really. A is Jonin. So S is..."
You stare blankly. "Kage?" You ask, unable to think of what else.
Kuwabara snorts. "Well, it can be. But would you really call Orochimaru-sensei just a Jonin?"
You and Rukia both shake your heads.
"I'm very flattered, but I assure you, I am a Jonin." The voice of Orochimaru slips into your ear from behind as you find a hand on your shoulder. You briefly spot Orochimaru with his hands (clone, you correct as it dawns on you) on both of Kuwabara's shoulders, and see Rukia has been grabbed by the shoulder by the same man grabbing you.
"Orochimaru-sensei! You're early!" Kuwabara blurts out.
The next few hours of training are grueling. You don't get a lecture as you half expected, though you're not entirely sure Kuwabara-san did not receive on more privately. In the following days, nobody raises the incident, and the D ranks and training go on.
Dreams
One day, Orochimaru-sensei sits you down in some manner of rooftop garden, you think it might be atop the Academy but you got a little lost on the way here. Unusually solemnly, for though your sensei is often serious he is rarely solemn, he says "So, students. I think it is about time we got to know each other just a little more. We've been a team for most of a month, and you've proven worth my time enough in that period. So!" He claps his hands energetically. "Tell me your dreams for the future. What is your goal in life, children?"
The three of you exchange somewhat wary glances, but in short order Kuwabara takes a strutting step forward, before boisterously declaring "My ambition is to be the greatest Ninja of my generation!"
Orochimaru quirks an eyebrow, before asking "Not the greatest of the village, or your clan?"
Kuwabara gives him the stink-eye, before saying "Do I look like a god of shinobi? I bet I can surpass you, but the Old Man? Nah, I wish."
Orochimaru chuckles lightly, before saying "I see. Well, I suppose it's good to know one has limits."
Kuwabara done, Rukia takes a look over at you, before rising and speaking herself. She shrugs, before saying "I want off the ANBU watchlists."
Orochimaru nods like this is a perfectly reasonable statement while you stare at her like she has grown a new arm. ANBU watchlists??
The Orochimaru gestures for you to speak, and you abruptly are reminded that oh yeah you're a bit nervous about this and shove that to the back of your skull.
[][Ambition] You want to grow up and marry Sasuke-kun! (that's so embarrassing to say outloud.)
[][Ambition] You want to be Hokage, as is proper for a Ninja to strive for.
[][Ambition] You want to be a splendid ninja, the best ninja you can be!
[][Ambition] You want to learn every jutsu in the world!
Oddity
A full week after Orochimaru asked after your ambitions, and at the end of the first month of you being a team officially, something quite strange happens in training.
Only problem is, you're really not sure what.
"-Haruno-san. Haruno-san." The voice of Orochimaru-sense is uncharacteristically urgent. You blearily open your eyes, staring up into the sky. When did you fall on your back...?
"Sakura-chan, you, uh, alright?" Kuwabara-san asks with a grim, troubled expression.
Orochimaru-sensei cuts in. "What do you remember, Haruno-san?" He has pen poised to write in some battered note-book, you absently note. You try to remember...
[][Incident] "Flowers?" You ask more than answer.
[][Incident] "Ribs hurt." You mutter, poking at your chest uncomfortably.
[][Incident] "Uh. Mirror?" You say, confused.
[][Incident] "Sand." You mumble, staring at the small pile of the stuff to the side of your head. When did sand get here..?
Rukia-san interrupts further interrogation. "Orochimaru-sensei, she needs rest, and maybe the hospital. That was... That was a thing!"
For a moment, you expect Orochimaru-sensei to contradict her. But he smooths his expression and says "Of course, child. Kuwabara-kun, take the girls to the hospital. I have some urgent business to attend to. We'll meet here tomorrow morning as usual." Before simply vanishing in a puff of smoke.
You don't feel so good...
(QM Notes: Right, this took significantly longer than I anticipated, but I also wrote significantly more than I anticipated so that's something. Gotta work on being more consistent about whether or not I'm using honorifics. Feel free to point out if anything seems like an error, the creative process here was a bit bumpy with all the interruptions life had so I'm not sure I pulled together a fully coherent update.
Ambition, incidentally, will constitute Sakura's long-term goal, though for example she will still find Sasuke attractive regardless of what's chosen, given I'm keeping that bit of her canon characterization, and that's all not to say that her goals won't change. But it'll certainly shape where she starts out coming from.
Feel free to ask any questions. Finding places to naturally info-dump intended worldbuilding or even remember to think to cover it hasn't been a reliable thing.
Hopefully, my pace is better from here. )
