Shikamaru frowned as he regarded the genin in front of him.
Two of them were...female.
The Shadow-Master wouldn't call women inferior to men, at least not so honestly as he might once have done, but he still had no doubt in his mind that women were...troublesome.
Granted, he assumed that women found men equally troublesome, but that didn't change matters.
Two girls. And beyond being girls, they were each troublesome in other ways.
An Uzumaki with a personal goal in mind.
Never a good thing for the sanity of a jonin instructor.
An outsider of uncertain bloodline.
With a meddlesome elder sister he understood....another troublesome female.
The final member of his team was Jubei Lee. All of Rock's work ethic and Sakura's determination...and so far none of either his father's humility or Sakura's gentle side.
Shikamaru continued to watch his genin from the shadows, observing how they interacted.
Saotome had her head down on the desk in front of her, periodically lifting it to exchange pleasantries with the ever energetic Uzumaki. Lee was doing push-ups and off-handedly besmirching the training ethic of both girls.
The taijutsu-expert's berating of the other girl was not entirely fair given the visible sling her shoulder was still in from the kunai injury two days ago, of course, that was itself a point against Saotome.
Shikamaru'd seen the girl's marks, she'd scored high in psychology and the study of genjutsu. He'd heard she was skilled enough for some basic genjutsu already. Her scores in taijutsu and ninjutsu somewhat lagged behind, and yet she'd apparently chosen to use a kunai rather than play to her strengths.
Probably trying to impress her sister.
Kuren, of course, could already perform a kage bunshin and create up to five shadow clones. Weak shadows, but still with substance. That said that she'd inherited some of her father's impressive chakra. The story from the playground was that she was the last person you wanted on the other team for playing ninja.
However, there was her missing brother to consider. Now that she was a genin, she could prove to be a handful if she started getting ideas of searching him out came into her head. Indeed she was already figiting like another Uzumaki he'd known as a youth.
Jubei Lee, was reportedly one of the best taijutsukas in the academy at present. He'd apparently never yet lost, nor did he have Rock's personal handicap. Unfortunately, he'd apparently never taken to broadening his range past taijutsu. He performed the basic ninjutsu and genjutsu knowledge required to pass the academy and that was all he showed interst in.
Given that his mother was one of the best medical ninja to come out of Konoha since its inception, that was a terrible oversight.
Strategy. Restraint. Open Mindedness.
These were the weak areas that he had to lead these three to master.
That determined, he sauntered out into the instruction room, half-slouched and sat down, feet up, next to Saotome's desk.
He had to wait about three seconds before Kuren Uzumak turned to say something to Joseibi and noted the addition.
"What's the matter, see a..." Joseibi's own question faltered as she turned her head about to see the jonin leaning against a bench a few inches away from her.
"Shikamaru-sensei!" an exuberant Jubei Lee declared upon noticing what the two girls had already.
"Now that you've finally noticed I'm here," Shikamaru said. "Maybe we can get started."
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(Posted Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:10)
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