A Hundred Steps Ahead

Team 10

CHAPTER 6: Team 10

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Shikamaru narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man before them. Sarutobi Asuma was a rather strange yet laid back man with a worrying addiction for smoking. 'This guy's on his way to an early grave with all that nicotine in his lungs.' He thought with discomfort.

The pineapple haired boy shifted to scratch the back of his head as he tried to gauge the reactions of his teammates. Sakura, from what he could observe, was as stumped as he is. Ino – Shika – Cho was always a squad placement that happened with the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi Clans. Beside her, Shino was as quiet as ever, but he could see the mental gears of his brain turning to analyze why their squad was formed with three of the arguably smartest Top Five students of their generation but still severely lack firepower.

'Not to mention, they paired us with a flexible Jounin fighter. Sarutobi Asuma was rumored to be one of the best frontline fighters, so why is he stuck with us?' Shikamaru frowned as he thought. 'This is too troublesome.'

"Well, ain't this a party?" Asuma chuckled as he observed each one of them. "To be frank, I'm pretty sure you guys are way smarter than me." He said with such honesty in his tone that the three had to blink in surprise. "But I've still got years of experience ahead of you."

'This man is too honest...' Sakura thought as she tilted her head with a worrying frown on her face. 'Are we really going to be okay with this placement?'

"I'm also sure that you guys caught up that Ino – Shika – Cho was not followed in this batch. It was supposed to be, initially, with Haruno Sakura under Hatake Kakashi and Aburame Shino with Yuuhi Kurenai." Asuma paused to blow a small smoke, "But the Village Elders were excited to see a team as rare as yours to be formed. You three are considered as the smartest of your bunch which has caught the attention of most Jounin due to your unique capabilities."

'Unique capabilities?' Shino thought.

"Strategy. Defense. Infiltration. Espionage. Assault. Demolition." The jounin listed one by one, "You three have attained the best skills necessary to complete all those. But you lack a certain aspect: Sheer willpower. Essentially, none of you are glory hounds, which are both a good thing and a bad thing. But the thing is, when shit goes up in flames, your kind usually freezes up and tends to retreat when things don't go your way."

Sakura blinked, 'Your kind? Does he mean smart people?'

"It's good that you're cautious and that you use your brain, but sometimes you have to be flexible and ready to have back – up strategies or power plays. That's why I'm your sensei," He grinned, "I'll pound your asses to shape and make sure that you guys will be one of the best squads ever to be seen in the whole nation."

X

Sakura cringed as she rested by a shady part of the training ground. Having just done her 50th lap, she was dead tired and just wanted to read a good book. Her emerald eyes watched as Shikamaru and Shino struggle to finish their 37th lap.

All by herself, she frowned as she remembered Asuma's words from three weeks before, "But you lack a certain aspect: Sheer willpower." True, she was no glory hound, but she was the top of her class whenever it came to Taijutsu matches and No – holds Sparring. She had read hundreds of books that covered a variety of jutsu and pointers that she made sure to execute perfectly.

She wasn't blessed with overly huge chakra capacity but she was excellent in controlling her chakra to the 99th percentile, a feat that was only matched by Senju Hashirama and Senju Tsunade. To make up for her lack of chakra capacity, she learned a multitude of jutsu to help her when the time comes, she thrived in both offense and defense, and everyone had said so. Sakura knew it herself. What kind of 'willpower' was she lacking?