Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never have and sadly never will.
Training ground next morning…
Shikamaru hadn't forgiven Naruto for leaving him in the first place and stopped training long enough to kick him in the butt. Naruto smacked his lazy friend on the head as he collapsed next to him in the dirt. Asuma was nowhere to be seen so they could take a well-deserved break for about a minute and twenty seconds before they were kicked awake.
"Just for that all three of you ladies get a hundred more push ups! Get to it!" They dropped to the ground again and worked with a vigor that Might Guy would be proud off. The three genin swallowed their cries of pain as Asuma sat on them. I took all three of them to lift his weight and all three of them to work together. Asuma ignored the three cries or whimpers and waved to Kakashi and his team. He felt one of them give out and the rest faltered.
"Did I say that you could stop? You must want to add another hundred push-ups!" They began working again as he sipped on a bottle of water. "If you three aren't done in five minutes, then I'll add another twenty for every minute you're late."
By the end of the morning, the three boy's muscles were sore beyond belief and they barely had any energy left over to eat. Naruto stuffed his face in his ramen and ate that way as the others struggled to lift their sandwiches to their mouths. Asuma sat by whistling while drinking some water and pork ramen.
Clapping his hands, he got the boys ready for a sparring match. By this time, Shino and Naruto had recovered halfway, while Shikamaru was out like a light. He would face who ever won the battle.
"Begin."
Shino charged head on at Naruto, who merely step sided a kick and aimed one of his own at Shino's midsection. Shino groaned but instead grabbed Naruto's foot and swung Naruto around before sending him flying through the trees. Naruto quickly placed one foot on a tree before pushing himself off in the trees. Asuma continued whistling as Shino took to the trees as well.
Shikamaru briefly woke up, went to the bathroom, and found some more rest in the shaded area. A yelp was heard in the area as a bright flash of orange flew past him and into the dirt. A cloud of smoke revealed that it was only a clone. Shikamaru glanced up at his two sparring teammates and groaned. Couldn't a hard working pineapple get some rest?
Back with Naruto and Shino….
Asuma gave the boys a five minute limit and so far, three minutes had past. They were both hiding behind a tree, panting hard. Naruto summoned two clones, directing each one in a different direction. It was time to end this. Naruto cursed as one clone was popped by some of Shino's insects. The second clone popped less than two seconds later. Naruto quickly made three more clones and climbed higher into the trees.
Shino on the other hand, was quickly gaining ground and nearly caught Naruto's ankle, before he felt his side collide with unforgiving bark. He let out a groan before pushing himself off the tree, looking around for Naruto. He caught one clone's foot and swung him into the other.
"Crystal release: Twin dragons!" Orange twin shaped dragon heads speared Shino in his stomach, tearing through his jacket. Shino switched himself with a log, before he felt himself being kicked to the ground.
"Time! Winner Naruto. Loser Shino. Come on Shino, you're slacking off. Remind me to give you an extra thirty push-ups later." Shino scowled and looked at the remains of his jacket and gave Naruto a death glare. Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"You are so getting me a new one."
"Alright Shikamaru. It's your turn."
"I'll take a rain check."
"Now Pineapple!"
Twenty Minutes Later…
The result was inevitable. Shikamaru threw Naruto a bowl of ramen and won easily.
"Alright you've had a good break. I've yet to show you the second part of your surprise. No. No weights this time…unfortunately." The others didn't allow a smile to their faces as Asuma took a puff of his cigarette.
Asuma handed each of his students a box and held his arms open for a hug. Shino found himself with a pair of medium sized kama newly sharpened and a cloth to clean them with. There was a manual and a bottle of oil as well. Inwardly, he groaned as the directions said polish the blades every six months and clean after every use.
Shikamaru received a wooden bo staff, which he didn't hesitant in hitting Naruto in the head with. He found a small chip in the staff, which allowed him to break it into two pieces and then put back together for a longer reach. The staff was the perfect shade as the trees, so he could probably trip someone when they walked by and they would never know... 'Man I am spending too much with Naruto', he thought.
Finally, Naruto received a red hilt kodachi and yellow hilt katana. He strapped the katana to his back and slid the kodachi in his pack on his ankle. Shikamaru leaned on his staff and 'accidentally' hit Shino in the back of the head to regain his balance. Naruto was the first to notice their sensei still had his arms out, waiting for a hug, but he didn't receiving anything more except for a thank you and a hot bowl of ramen. Poor Asuma.
"Keep these in a safe spot. You'll begin training with them when we return from our mission. Report to the Hokage's office at eight tonight for more information, understood?"
"Sir yes sir!"
Later that Night…
Unlike last time, the Hokage could see and feel the change within Asuma's team. The boys had lost much of their naivete and ignorance of being ninjas. They were still children, but there was a new toughness about them that he could feel.
He handed Asuma the scroll containing their mission, and swirled around in his chair, puffing some smoke out of his pipe. His heart dropped every time he sent out children like Team 8 on higher ranked missions, but this was their job. It was either do or die.
With Team 8…
"Alright team, here's the mission. Shino and Naruto are a sub team, while Shikamaru and I are another team. If we get attacked, then switch to plan B. Our main goal is to investigate strange occurrences near Wave country. Detain any enemy if possible. If not, kill immediately. I'll explain more in detail when we get there. Understood?"
"Yes sir!"
"Alright. We'll meet here at six A.M. sharp on the dot. Don't be late or you'll have to catch up to us. Is that clear?"
"Sir yes sir!"
"Good-dismissed."
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Edit: 6/9/14 Now unfortunately, before I place a new chapter up, I had to redo this old chapter because my stupid self updated the wrong chapter. So then two chapters had the same material…and that doesn't really work out. What's worse is that I didn't/don't have a backup for any of the chapters except for 13-14 which sucks as well because I've forgotten what was in this chapter…so…forgive me once more if things happen to be different this time. Hopefully this chapter is just as good/or even better than the old one.
As always thank you everyone for the reviews, favorites, and alerts! Please review if you have the time. Constructive criticism is always welcomed (especially if it is grammar related). I'm hoping that by the end of the summer, my grammar skills will have improved somewhat. See you all next time! Ja ne!
-Flash^-^
