Chapter 92: Chibi Sparring
The old man breathed in deeply the smoke from his long-time trusted pipe, "What do you want of me so late in the night?"
"Guy asked me for a favor, Jiji. And I believe it's something that should be done already." Kaname replied.
"*Exhale*, that is?"
"There is an academy student in this graduation year's batch - the boy doesn't have any skills in nin or genjutsu, meaning he doesn't stand a chance at the exams."
"I don't see a problem here. Why would we want a shinobi without an ounce of chakra control, Kana-chan? I know of Lee-kun's situation - he is, unfortunately, a dead last in his class."
"You and your lecherous crystal ball... If I find you spied on me - I will shove it up your ar-"
"*Cough* You know me, Kana-chan. I'm not someone to intrude on someone's privacy. I can't say the same for my student, but I'm perfectly in the clear! Your house is one of the spots I can't look at - you have it very tightly secured."
"Good to know. Now to answer your question, Guy already took the boy under his wing. Did you ever see Lee-kun spar against his classmates, Jiji?"
"I'm rather preoccupied, Kana-chan, as much as I would want to watch over my 'family,' I don't have the time for everyone."
"Didn't the vice-principal of the Academy gave you a report? The boy is already using the moves from Duy-san's Strong Fist. Lee-kun is worried about hurting his classmates and holds back his punches. Give him a year or two, and we will have a mini-Guy in a village. Just let him pass the Academy under your authority."
"Hmm." Hokage grumbled in acknowledgment, "That would be a good moment to go over the Academy's curriculum."
"Why do I feel I caught myself in a trap here, Jiji?"
"Why indeed." the aged Sarutobi repeated with a half-hidden smile, blowing a steady stream of smoke from his mouth, "I want you to create a new curriculum, Kana-chan. You will be my second in command dealing with the education of our future shinobis."
"What about the current vice-principal?"
"To hell with him, he was put into the role by Civilian Council. From that moment on, the education of the Academy went down the drain. Now, most of the shinobi clans are voting as one, I don't care about the Council's pathetic protests."
"I see where this is going. Firstly, you wanted me to gain the loyalty of ANBU troops, now you want me to acquire control over the Academy. You know my opinion on the topic, I won't get shackled into your office. Eat your smelly hat, I will not take it!"
"You still have a long way to learn how to play this game, Kana-chan. I'm preparing you much longer for this - remember when you helped me sort and stamp all the documents? Even now, you do it unconsciously."
"Wha?" Kaname looked down at her hands shuffling the documents around, "*Tsk* Old prick."
"Hohoho." Hokage hoarsely laughed in his little victory.
"You have your own students to choose from. End of discussion."
"Kana-chan, you are my best choice, but I understand, if either one of them wants to take the position, I will let them."
"Whatever, what about Lee-kun?"
"If you take over the Academy, I will let you have the last say about his situation."
"Hoo~ I never expected you would blackmail me, Jiji."
"With time comes the experience." the old man replied sagely.
"... Okay, I can send a clone to do the job. But I have a condition."
"Of course you do."
"I want your approval on the reinstitution of blooding program for the graduate classes, Jiji."
"Hmm, I did not expect that out of you, Kana-chan. From what I know, you hated that part."
"I still do. But we can't have newbies not prepared for what's out there."
"The civilian parents won't be happy for their children."
"See if I care, Jiji. Shinobi academy is not a playground - parents can always take their children away to a civilian school."
"What about Naruto-kun, would you let him-"
"He already did, Sasuke-kun and Hinata-chan did their part as well."
"*Sigh* I know you are trying to skew the end year results for them. Can you at least tell me why?"
"Heh, it's a secret. I'm sure you know that Doofus-kun is training two of the kids, while Hinata is getting personal training from her mother."
"Yes, he rattled something about that. I'm unsure why Inu's coaching does not result in the betterment of their grades. What're their true capabilities, Kana-chan?"
"It depends mostly on you, Jiji. They would shine if put into a single team."
The old man massaged his forehead, "Knowing you three mother hens, the kids are easily the top of the year."
"Hey! I'm not a mother hen!"
"Yeah-yeah," he waved his hand dismissing Kaname's complaint, "If I let it go like that, the teams would get unbalanced, I can't put three top students on a single cell."
"From what I know, Doofus-kun started his own diary of the teams he failed on Minato's bell exam. Just put the three with him the next year. I'm pretty sure you will be positively surprised."
"It's hard-"
"Okay, let me state it in another way, Jiji." Kaname smiled sinisterly, "If you don't do it, I will put the same seals I have on my home at the Konoha Hot Springs."
"You... You would rob an old man from his favorite hobby?!"
"If it would protect the females from another lecherous pervert spying on them? Yes, I would, Jiraya-san, at least, has to crawl his ass through the bushes to spy on women."
"Ugh... Wait, why are you so sure that this year's batch will fail Inu's bell test?" Kaname replied with disbelief written on her face, "Okay, I know it's a brutal test for a bunch of genins, but still..."
"Meh, not counting three students that Guy wants to take, the rest are mediocre civilians not fit to start the duty."
"... That's the reason I want you at the helm, Kana-chan. The number of graduates fell each year. I have high hopes for Naruto-kun's peers, but after they graduate, there will be a vast void in talent in the Academy for many years. I want you to counteract it."
"Okay, I will start by putting down any forms of fangirlism in there. I may need your help tomorrow morning by removing the old vice-principal."
"I will walk out of the office in the morning and wait for you. Anything is more interesting than shuffling through the documents. Good night, Kana-chan."
"See you tomorrow, Jiji," Kaname replied, walking towards the window.
"The doors are on the other side of- Ah, to hell with it!"
----------
"Sis!" A blonde hugged her in a greeting.
"Yo, what's going on?"
"We were talking with the fox... Kurama is an asshole. ~dattebayo." Naruto pointed behind his back towards Utakata.
"What do you mean, Naru-chan?"
"Thanks to Saiken, I'm able to enforce contact with the Kyūbi." Utakata joined in, "Fox was not happy we were 'imposing on his meditation time.'"
"Yep! Saiken and I easily talked the lazy fox down ~ttebayo!"
"Hmm, good for you. Keep at it. If there is someone that can help Kurama get out of his shell, it's both of you." Kaname patted Naruto's head.
"Hehehe." the boy laughed, scratching the back of his head.
"I have got a surprise for you."
"What is it, Sis?"
"You will see in the morning, I will walk you down to the Academy for a show. Utakata, do you want to go with us?" Kaname smirked.
"I don't have anything better to do either way." the man shrugged his shoulders.
"Hmm, that's too bad, I can't let you get bored, can I?" she winked back at him, making Utakata smile back at her.
"Sis-sis!"
"What is it, Naru-chan?"
"Use the silencing seals this time! ~dattebayo."
When she heard Utakata's snicker, Kaname went beetroot red on her face, "Whatever, have you eaten anything yet?" The boy nodded his head, "Hmm, okay, get your foxy ass in the shower and go to sleep, Naru-chan."
--------
"Kana-chan, wake up." the next morning, someone shook Kaname's arm.
"Ugh, I had such a nice dream..." she moaned out incoherently with her eyes closed, she slowly stretched her muscles and opened her eyes, "Hmm, Utakata? What's up?"
"Cat-chan is waiting for you outside, something about Hokage expecting you in fifteen minutes. Did you prank the old man again?"
"*Yawn* Not this time, we're just taking out the laundry inside the Academy. I'm to be Jiji's second in command."
"*Sigh*..."
"I hope Naru-chan is ready to go already? Can you find Torune-kun and the kids? I may need them for a demonstration."
"He is. As you wish, my butterfly, I will join you there in ten."
Kaname's cheeks flushed, "Go away, I don't have much time now."
Utakata bent forward over Kaname and lightly kissed her forehead, "Get up now, sleepyhead. Will see you soon."
Kaname watched him disappear in a high-speed movement, 'Damnit, that night was a devastating defeat for me... Hmm, Paku-chan was right - it's the best form of cardio training. Shit! Don't think about that right now! I need to prepare for the Academy.'
---------
"Ugh, Nee-san?"
"Hi, Little Duckling." Kaname watched the black-haired boy's eyes twitching in anger.
"..."
"Muhahaha! Sis got your nickname, Teme!"
"Huhu," A shy girl on Kaname's side chuckled faintly.
"Shut up, Dobe. What's with your grinning, stupid 'I know something you don't' face?"
"Because I do, Teme. Sis is going to teach in the Academy ~ttebayo." Naruto blurted out.
"Really, Nee-san?!"
"Nah..." Kaname replied, making Sasuke sighing out his relief, "I'm going to take over the entire Academy."
"... Fuck." the Uchiha boy dropped on his knees.
"Language." Kaname flicked his forehead.
"What? Why are you not happy, Teme? It's Sis ~ttebayo."
"Naruto-kun, it's a real problem for the three of us." Hinata joined in, "Nee-san will most likely rearrange the curriculum, making the results of our secret practice even harder to hide."
"No way! You won't do that to us, Sis! It's already hard not to fall asleep when Iruka-sensei keeps dragging on each subject ~ttebayo!"
"Naruto-kun, you fell asleep multiple times already." Hinata chuckled again.
"Eh? I really did fall asleep, Hinata-chan?" Naruto noticed a dangerous glint in Kaname's eye.
"Yes, you did, Dobe! Iruka-sensei has a special box with 'Naruto's chalk missiles' at the ready. At least try to mimic Nara, he is sleeping with his eyes open!"
"It's not fair! Shikamaru must have used some kind of clan technique for that-"
"Naru-chan... What did I say about sleeping on Iruka-kun's lectures?" Kaname's sweet voice interrupted the friendly banter.
"*Gulp*."
----------
"Eh? Naruto, why are you so down? Let your Ino-chan help you out!"
"Thanks, Ino-chan, but you can't help me, nobody can. I got a daily ban on eating ramen."
"Eh?" the platinum blonde looked at Naruto strangely, "Is that supposed to be a punishment?"
"Ugh, I'm sorry, Ino-"
"Silence class, I hope we will have only two guests this morning... Knowing her, I'm sorely mistaken..." Iruka barged into the classroom, hushing the kids. At this moment, Hokage entered with his, as Naruto called it before - 'funny hat' on top of his head. Kaname walked in just a step after the elderly man.
Almost the entire class greeted him as one with "Hello, Hokage-sama~."
"Hi, Jiji!" Naruto's shout easily overshadowed his classmates.
Hiruzen squinted his eyes at Kaname, thinking of her Academy days, "And the wheel goes round and round." she murmured with a smile on her face.
"*Sigh*... Hello children, after some unforeseen circumstances, the last vice-principal couldn't maintain his post. Fortunately, I found you a perfect replacement - Kaname Uchiha will be my right-hand in the Academy until the moro- *cough* vice-principal comes back. Thank you. Kana-chan, let's go now towards the second years."
As the two left the classroom, there could be heard a silent murmur of "Troublesome."
---------
"Okay, kids. I believe none of you ever fought as a ninja." Kaname greeted Naruto's classmates at the Academy's training field.
"Kaname-sensei." Shikamaru rose his hand.
"Yep?"
"Two questions, did the old principal get ousted?"
"I can't disagree, nor tell you are wrong, Shikamaru."
"*Sigh* So I'm right. Okay, can I sleep in the corner during the sparring?"
"Hahaha. You got balls, kid. Good." Kaname laughed out, "Neither of you is ready for what's outside Konoha's safe walls. I will make sure that you will at least survive your first C-rank mission."
"Si- sense... Sis-sensei!" Naruto lifted his hand.
"Heh, that was weird, what is it, Naru-chan?"
"If I defeat you in a spar, will I become a jōnin? It's the shortest way to becoming a Hokage ~dattebayo!"
"No shortcuts for you, Naru-chan. Every single one of you will get to fight one of my guests. Let's start with the easiest ones..." Kaname listed out ten civilian girl names making them step forward. "Izumi-chan, show them what they're lacking."
A brown-haired girl materialized on Kaname's side, "Yes, sensei."
The succeeding fight could barely be called as one. Izumi quickly dispatched the disorganized team of girls, painfully poking at every unguarded part of their bodies.
"Now I know how did you felt when teaching us, Kaname-sensei... I'm worried about those girls - they would only get hunted down and raped outside the safety of our walls."
"I know, Izumi-chan. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata step forward. Feel like showing the 'top' three what's what, Izumi-chan?"
"As you wish."
"Hmm, Torune-kun. Take Shikamaru and Shino with you."
"Affirmative."
"Koji-kun, a special job for you."
"Yes, sensei?"
"Take out the rest of the class with you, prank the shit out of them if you wish so. Naruto and Sasuke are with me."
"Hehehe, that's like a wish come true!"
"I have got a special guest for you, Sasuke-kun." the black-haired boy felt someone silently stepping behind his back.
"And by that she meant me." Sasuke felt a pat on his head.
"*Growl* Itachi-niisan, I will get you today!" Sasuke swiped at his older brother's hand with a hidden kunai.
"Eh? The heck? Wait a moment, does it mean I'm going to fight you, Sis? Will you give me ten seconds of a headstart for me to start running away?"
"Nah, I wanted Torune-kun to show you the ropes, but there are too many prying eyes at the moment. You will have to fight against someone like you."
"So that's why I'm here?" Utakata questioned.
"Yep, have fun!" Kaname flickered away.
-------
[Izumi's fight]
"*Yawn* Did you really tried to use a genjutsu on an Uchiha, are you stupid or something pinky?"
"Ugh..." Sakura groaned as she slowly lifted herself after a powerful backhanded slap knocked her to the ground.
"And you, Yamanaka. Are you kidding me? Move! You are a sitting duck!"
"I... Can you show me how to dodge the attacks, Senpai?"
"I'm doing it right now." Izumi flickered to Ino's back and pulled her legs from under the girl making her faceplant, "The easiest way is an experience!"
"Guh!" Ino groaned out, feeling her mouth fill with dust.
"Hinata, why do you let me beat your friends around, do... something! No more holding back. Show us what you can really do."
"Bu-but..."
"No butts, if you don't come at me now, I will hurt your friends."
"You- you can't hurt us, Izumi-san. Nee-san wouldn't let you." Hinata shot back.
"Hoo~ Maybe you're right." the red sharingans burst into life, "but I have her permission to do that." the teen flickered away in high-speed movement technique. Below a second, she landed behind tired Sakura with a kunai in her hand aimed at the neck of the long-haired girl. With a light tug of Izumi's right hand and a swing of her left one, the girl was left with a pink short shaggy bob-cut.
"AH! N-NO! My hair!" [AN: No more senseless monologue from Sakura of becoming a successful kunoichi only to end up biting the wrist of her opponent...]
Izumi flickered away, heading towards Ino.
"<Byakugan>!" Hinata intercepted the experienced shinobi mid-flight, with her own high-speed movement technique. The dark-blue-haired girl delivered several punches towards Izumi's tenketsu points, only for the chūnin to redirect the strikes towards less important parts of the body.
"<Hakke Kūshō>!" [Eight Trigrams Palm Vacuum Palm] With quick thinking, Hinata jumped back, crisscrossed her arms, and sent two blasts of pressure towards her friends, making them tumble away from combat.
'Hmm, not bad for a genin, she even put some pressure on me. Wait, Hinata-chan is not even one yet. Hehehe, Kaname-sensei created another monster. The girl will be an amazing princess of her clan in five to six years. Why do I not feel my right leg? Did she use the famous Jūken kicking my anklebone? Not enough time, I need to be a sadistic teacher to teach those kids.' Izumi charged at the girl when she reached a striking distance, Uchiha flickered way faster than before and found herself behind Hinata's back, "You made a false positive mistake, Hinata-chan." she replied, putting a kunai to the girl's heart.
"I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't be. It would be a mistake on a field, you discarded your friends, they should be here to help you. But now? You saved your useless friend from getting her long hair cut. Ouch, what the fu-?" Izumi felt a pang of pain on her left ankle. Looking down, she noticed pinky biting her leg. "Damn it... That will leave a mark... Let go!" Izumi swung her left leg, sending Sakura tumble on the ground.
"Hinata-chan? What? What was that?" Ino collected herself, standing back up.
"It's her secret, Yamanaka-chan." Izumi interrupted.
"I understand, thank you for your help, Hinata-chan."
"I hope the fight was a humbling experience for you three. Now, do you know why we, the kunoichis, have much more at stake going outside the walls?" the older kunoichi continued.
"It's not important! You cut my hair!"
"*Sigh* As a genin, you should have it short for safety reasons." the chūnin explained.
"But Sasuke likes longer hair! I can't-"
"Shut up for a moment, pinky. Now, there is no one to eavesdrop on us - you have only two friends listening next to you. I want to ask you, why do you want to become a kunoichi?"
"Ino-buta is not my friend!" Izumi noticed a small sting of sorrow in platinum blonde's pale blue eyes after pinky's shout.
"No, I think we're not." Ino acknowledged after a moment.
"I don't care. Hinata-chan, you are first. Why do you want to become a kunoichi, despite almost forty percent of female ninjas end up getting raped?"
"Izumi-san? Forty percent? I-I didn't know." Hinata took a step back.
"No wonder. The statistics are buried deep into the reports and depend mainly on the quality of active jōnin-senseis. But even your own teacher can't protect you from your own stupidity. So? Will you give it all up?"
Izumi watched as the violet-haired girl slowly straightened her back as if she grew a backbone. "I promised I will protect my little sister, for that I need strength and experience."
"Good. Ino?" Izumi nodded her head and pointed the finger towards the second girl.
"I never thought about that, Senpai. I think I want to succeed as the next head of the Yamanaka clan and protect my family."
"You should think about it, a clear goal you pursue makes you a lot more willing to try and be better each day."
"Thank you, Senpai."
"You're welcome. And you, Sakura? Why do you want to be a kunoichi, despite the dangers lurking around each corner in the future?"
"Ugh, I..." She looked behind her back, searching for the object of her crush. Not finding Sasuke in the group of her classmates, she turned her head back towards older Uchiha, "I'm doing it for..." girl's cheeks flushed into the same pink as her hair, "I want him to..."
"Tsk... Kaname-sensei is always right." Izumi facepalmed, "WE ARE NOT PLAYING NINJAS! That's why we're here, pinky. Truth to be told, as you are now, it would take you decades until you reach any kind of usefulness in a team. I believe you would be easy pickings for slavers, an amazing way of showing off to your crush... You have a year to get back into form. Pinky-chan, if you want to survive your first three months of being a genin, you will have to train like a maniac, fangirlism will be severely punished from this day onward in the Academy. Hmm, you have the option of becoming a breeding mare for a bunch of fat assholes wanting to taste a young kunoichi as well, your call."
-------
[Itachi's fight]
"Careful with this, Sasuke, kunais are very sharp." Itachi pulled his hand back.
"How dare you come back now!?" Sasuke jumped back and threw eight kunais he held between his fingers. Each blade targeted another vital point on his older brother's body.
"Hmm, I'm always watching you, little brother. I never truly left you alone."
"BULLSHIT! You left your clan when it needed you the most! You left me and mom, if I wanted to be the future clan leader, I would say so myself. You left us with no choice! <Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu>!" [Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique] Sasuke breathed out a big ball of fire that chaotically divided itself into many smaller streams of flame that soon started attacking Itachi from multiple sides.
"Hmm, you got better, Sasuke-kun. You did not use any hand seals to activate your technique." Jiraya's student nodded his head, "<Katon: Endan>." [Fire Release: Flame Bullet] Itachi's technique quickly eradicated his brother's.
"Tsk." the boy clicked his tongue.
"Fight fire with more fire." Sasuke heard Itachi's voice from behind him, with a soft tap on his nape, the boy felt his consciousness drift away, but with pure willpower, he held himself standing.
Itachi lifted his eyebrow in surprise, "We need to talk, Sasuke." Activating his Sharingan, he pulled his little brother into a genjutsu world.
-------
[Utakata]
"Hehehe, what will you show me, Utakata? Can I transform my hand as you can?! It would be insane to have Kurama's claws or his fangs ~ttebayo!"
"Haha, nope. You need Kurama's help with that."
"Bleh, that sucks!"
"Sooner or later, we will get to him, Naruto."
"Hahaha! He didn't like it. Have you heard the rumble in my stomach? Wait, what? Why are Hinata-chan and Teme showing almost their full potential? Iruka-sensei is watching us!"
Utakata turned his head towards the kids' teacher, only to notice the chūnin's glossed eyes, "You shouldn't worry about that, it seems your Sis got Iruka-san under genjutsu."
"Saying that. Where the heck is Sis going with Scarecrow now? ~dattebayo."
"...Kana-chan has a weird affliction of getting herself into troubles."
"You know it! She died once already! ~ttebayo."
'That would be twice... Or even more, she would be the first to hide such facts from her family...' The jinchūriki of Six-Tailed Beast contemplated, "I'm sorry, Naruto, we will have to postpone our talk with Kurama. I will go with your sister to make sure she doesn't dive headfirst into another cesspit."
"Sure, go get her, Utakata!"
-----
"What is it, Doofus-kun?" Kaname asked the hidden man while walking outside the Academy grounds.
"Hmm, how did you know I was here, Kana-chan?"
"I felt you staring." she shot back.
"Nope, you did not, I'm sure I hid myself well... Hmm, maybe later. There is a mission from Boar-san - we're to negotiate a deal with a very rich man, Kana-chan."
"I see, where is my new mask?" Kakashi threw a spinning disk-like porcelain mask towards her. Catching it, Kaname observed her new identity - a white fox-like mask with an engraving of a small red butterfly below the left eye and multiple red markings noting her high standing in ANBU corps.
"The man's name?" Kaname questioned, donning on her mask.
"Gato, he is-"
"I know who he is, let's go Inu."
"Roger that, Kitsune."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
dahnik
dahnik I'm sorry for being late with the update, I had family matters to attend to... 4k words for you in my apology :-). I will try to start writing the next chapter tomorrow - half a thousand words per day shouldn't take too much of my 'free' time and should give me an edge by the weekend to publish a new chapter on time :-).
As always I'm looking forward to your comments and ideas, they're boosting my author side of brain :-)
If you found any mistakes please inform me :-) I don't like mistakes :-)