"So this is the genin team I have been assigned to lead is it?" Naruto said as he entered the training ground that Mei had directed him to, an unimpressed look on his face as he inspected the current occupants of the training grounds.
"You're Pain I take it, our Jounin Sensei?" One of the occupants spoke up as he looked Naruto up and down, an equally unimpressed look on his own face. "I thought you would have been taller."
The one who had spoken was a tall skin youth around the same age as Naruto. The boy had shoulder length blond hair and violet eyes. As he opened his mouth to speak, Naruto was able to see that the boy had filed his teeth to points.
Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he took notice of the sword strapped to the boys back, it was a pretty recognizable one as well after all it was one of the Seven Legendary Swords of the Mist, the blade known as Shibuki also known as 'the Blastsword'..
Instantly taking note of all these facts Naruto was able to come to a conclusion on just who this boy was. "Suigetsu Hozuki I take it, one of the trainee members of the new Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and also one of the last few remaining members of the Hozuki Clan?"
The now named Suigetsu grinned at that, his filed down teeth on full display as he sent the other two genin in the room a smug look. "Ha! So the big bad Pain knows who I am. I shouldn't be surprised, after all the Seven Swordsmen aren't called legendary for nothing."
Naruto gave him a bored look at that before he looked away dismissively.
"I think I would have preferred your brother Mangetsu, from what I have heard he is much more skilled and not as annoying, though I suppose he is not a genin and is already a full member of the Seven Swordsmen unlike you who are still just a newbie."
The smug look instantly left Suigetsu's face as he heard that, before he could retort though Naruto had moved onto the other genin's in the room.
"Hmm." Naruto muttered to himself as he inspected the next genin who was looking nervously at him. "Blue hair, glasses and filed down teeth.
A slightly nervous disposition and one of the Seven Swords of the Mist strapped on you back, I take it you are Chojuro the wielder of Hiramekarei, 'the Twinsword' and another trainee member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist?"
"E-erm yes sir." Chojuro replied nervously as he shifted uncomfortably under Naruto's red eyed gaze. "I-it will be an honour to work with you Pain, sir."
Naruto nodded curtly at that, a slight smile on his face at the boy's soft and nervous tone. The boy may appear meek, but from what Naruto had heard he was a really beast in a fight, Naruto certainly wasn't against him being on his team, nor was he really against Suigetsu.
After all he like the other members of the new Seven Swordsmen was chosen for a reason, they were chosen because they all had the potential to be great.
"It will be good to work with you Chojuro." Naruto said as he reached out and shook Chojuro's hand. "Fight well and we won't have a problem."
A distinctly uncomfortable look crossed Chojuro's face at that. He had heard about Pain and had heard about just how many he and his team had killed, so much so that they had become something of a legend in their own right. He really didn't want Pain to have a problem with him.
Releasing the boy's hand Naruto turned to the last member of his genin team, though calling them genin was a bit disingenuous considering the fact that all three of them were at least high chunin to low jounin level Shinobi.
A genuine smile crossed Naruto's face as he approached the last member of his new team. The youth standing before him was around Naruto's own age, with short brown and hazel brown eyes.
The boy had a large bulky build, too large for someone his age, like Naruto he had built up a lot of muscle on his frame, which was a contrast to the lean, thin physique most Shinobi went for.
"Hodan the motherfucking 'Cannonball' it's been a while!" Naruto said with a grin as he slapped the boy on the shoulder, before dragging him into a manly hug. He along with Victor and Clementine had been one of the first Outcasts his own age that he had met upon coming to KIri, back when he had clung to old man Furui like glue.
Because of that and because of their similar ages they had all hung around a lot in the beginning and had regularly gone on low level missions during the war together. Unfortunately though Hodan had not become a Hunter-nin like Naruto, Clementine and Victor, his skill set after all was not the most subtle type.
Instead he had remained a just a regular Shinobi, though a very destructive and enthusiastic one..
"Pain!" Hodan replied with a large smile of his own, even as he lifted Naruto up in a hug before releasing him. "How are things?"
"Bit shit at the moment old boy." Naruto replied with a shrug. "My team has been disbanded, Clementine and Victor have been put into training as new Swordsmen of the Mist and I have been given this mission.
How about you? How the fuck are you still considered a genin?"
"Ha! That's great for them, bet they will be pretty awesome Swordsmen." Hodan replied with a grin, before a sheepish expression crossed his face as he heard the rest of Naruto's question. "As for why I am a genin… well… I did get promoted … but then I went on a few missions and… well you know…. there was a lot of collateral damage."
Naruto rolled his eyes at that in amusement. "You mean you got over excited and destroyed something you shouldn't, so Mei demoted you."
"Yeah." Hodan replied shiftily. "She was not very happy."
"Yeah I can believe it." Naruto chuckled with a small smile on his face. "Well I am glad to have you with me."
Hodan grinned at that.
Yes Naruto was happy with the team he had been assigned. Two trainee Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and an old comrade and war veteran, yes he was very happy with his team; they would certainly make it to the last round and would be a devastating force to have hidden within Konoha when they needed to fight.
Thoguh if that was for Konoha or against was yet to be decided.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Suigetsu asked a slight scowl on his face as he saw how Naruto had been much more hospitable to the other two.
"Now?"Naruto said with a wry smile. "Now I am going to train you, and train you hard. I have a month to make sure we can all fight as a cohesive unit. So we will work on team work and combination attacks."
Chojuro nodded at that, even as Hodan shrugged nonchalantly at Naruto's words, not to fussed about the extra training, it was after all necessary. Suigetsu however frowned at that. "So what exactly is our mission then? We have been told that all we have to do is enter the Chunin Examination and make it to the final round?"
Naruto nodded at that before replying. "And that is all you need to know for now, when it becomes necessary for you to know more I will tell you. For now though you are just to make it to the final round, you will be the only genin team Kiri is sending due to reasons you will be told of later.
Though I will say that when you are taking part in the exam you are not to kill anyone from the villages of Suna, Oto and Konoha, or at least not unless I tell you to."
This time all three members of the team looked confused.
"Well this sounds very dodgy." Hodan said blandly. "Ah well, we are Shinobi, cryptic missions is the norm for us."
"Yeah but I would like to know a bit more about just what we are doing taking part in some random Chunin Exam in Konoha." Suigestu said loudly, his voice slightly petulant as he demanded answers.
"And you will be told. But for now you will be kept in the dark in case you are captured and interrogated. So sack it up." Naruto said knowing as he did how annoying this would be for them.
Unfortunately though the mission was an important one, if anything went wrong it could lead to fighting breaking out before Kiri was ready. So for now Naruto was going to play things close to his chest, he needed to ensure his team was safe, which for now mean he would keep certain details form them.
Hodan and Chojuro nodded at that, both of them understanding Naruto's reasoning. Suigetsu scowled but eventually accepted that Naruto had a reason, and that he would be told eventually.
"Anymore questions?" Naruto asked as he looked at the three of them. When none of them spoke up Naruto smiled. "Good, now we have under month to prepare, so let's start training."
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