Sarutobi coughed, getting Team Eight's attention back. "We were going over your mission report?" he said calmly.
As Jonin-sensei, Kurenai was expected to give the report. The usual array of chunin functionaries were in attendance, as well as Iruka representing the Academy's continuing interests in the rookie genin. "Yes, sir," she addressed Sarutobi. "Naruto, Hinata, and Naruko put their plan into action."
"How would you describe the plan?"
"Effective, methodical, and thorough but highly inefficient," Kurenai said, getting a few looks of surprise. "Hinata and Naruto used their new jutsu to eliminate a fifth of Konoha as Tora's hiding place, using a spiral pattern that left few holes in the rim of the 'searched zone' making it unlikely for the target to slip into the eliminated area."
"A brute force tactic," Iruka surmised.
"Yes," Kurenai agreed. She noticed Naruto shifting uncomfortably. Perhaps mages could afford to be flashy, but a ninja did not expend more power than he needed to.
"Continue," Sarutobi asked.
"Kiba acquired a scent sample and tracked Tora directly. However, it took several minutes to communicate this with Naruko, after which Hinata adjusted her search patterns and Naruto ended his jutsu to join Kiba."
"What caused the delay?" Sarutobi frowned. If Naruto and Hinata were that intertwined that they couldn't work with Kiba, Team Eight should not have passed.
"Apparently, Naruto, Hinata, and Naruko were coordinating telepathically," Kurenai said, sounding somewhat disgruntled. "Kiba and I were not part of that."
"Telepathically?" a chunin from the Yamanaka clan asked idly.
"Hinata?" Kurenai gestured forward.
Hinata's eyes widened and she took an unsteady step forward. Even if her nerves were most notable regarding Naruto and her father, being asked to speak at a formal debriefing held by the Hokage was easily enough to rattle the shy girl. It didn't help that the Hyuuga representative was staring at her with an unreadable intensity. She glanced back at Kurenai and caught a glimpse of Naruto looking at her and smiling that huge grin of his. That was all the support she needed.
She turned back to the Hokage and straightened slightly. "One of the basic mage skills is the ability to speak mind to mind. Mages tend to spread out and can't talk normally to stay in touch."
"Is it secure?"
"No," Hinata said.
"Yeah but unless someone's really trying they can't listen in," Naruto threw in.
Sarutobi frowned. So…secure enough for using in a mission, but not for more sensitive messages. Well, that still put it on par with the codes they used for missions anyway. "Can you teach this to others?"
"Without a device, the range is really limited," Naruko said. "Especially when using chakra." She fiddled with her hair briefly and revealed the band holding her left ponytail together. "This is a very simple device that helps me use chakra for telepathy and other magic. It uses parts the TSAB allows civilian mages to own without paperwork, but I don't think we could make it ourselves."
Sarutobi digested that slowly. One of the problems in relations with the TSAB was how very different their economies were. They were largely forced into a barter system, so knowing about this kind of thing was helpful to negotiate with when they inevitably sent a request for Naruto and Hinata to pull a job for them.
The Yamanaka clansman looked like he had swallowed something sour and slightly too old.
"Very well. You will have your next mission tomorrow morning," Sarutobi said.
"Just no more cat missions, old man!" Naruto yelled.
The ensuing argument was…as predictable as anything Naruto does.
Kurenai arranged for training that afternoon. "Today we'll be training up your taijutsu. Kiba, Hinata, I know your clans have their own styles, so I want you to practice them. Naruto, Naruko, you'll have to show me what you know."
Kiba headed out quickly, yelling something about finding a sparring partner. Hinata moved only a few yards away and practiced her forms, her attention obviously on Naruto.
Naruto was completely oblivious to Hinata. "Okay," he said with a grin. "Gungnir."
[On it! Taijutsu mode!] Naruto's barrier jacket reappeared, but nothing else happened. Gungnir was still a jewel on Naruto's armband, not a staff or spear.
Kurenai frowned. "What is this?"
"Taijutsu mode," Naruto replied. "Gungnir activates but leaves my hands free. I can't use most of my spells, but it's better than nothing."
"Can Hinata…?"
"Renard has the same mode," Naruko said.
Kurenai half-turned to look at Hinata, who was sparring against a tree. Her arms were loose, flailing like whips to deliver brutal palm strikes. Kurenai had never seen a Hyuuga fight like that, but it was clearly effective given the amount of tree reduced to splinters already. "Um, who taught you that taijutsu?"
"Eh? Oh, only Hinata learned that," Naruto said with a shrug. "I think Natsu called it pig and swan."
"Piquaquan," Naruko corrected. "All I really know is to keep really far from Hinata until she's done beating the crap out of the rocks or whatever."
Kurenai looked at the powerful blows Hinata was managing and nodded. "And did 'Natsu' teach you two as well?"
"It was a job just getting him to take on Hinata," Naruto grumbled.
"I was trained by Arf-sempai," Naruko added happily, smiling as if recalling a particularly pleasant memory.
Kurenai put Naruko down as having a case of hero worship. "So who trained you, Naruto?"
"Um…well I really didn't have any regular taijutsu lessons," he admitted. "Chrono trained me in armed combat, and mixed in some hand to hand moves, but I wouldn't call it taijutsu."
Kurenai's lips pursed in displeasure. "Okay then. Show me what you've got."
What they had was enthusiasm and power, it turned out. Naruko funneled chakra into straight punches and little else. While effective, it was graceless and filled with openings.
Naruto was no better. The academy standards were there, but if anything they had degraded from his bare graduation. He channeled chakra into his blows as well, probably through his device. Kurenai idly wondered if he was mimicking his familiar or fiancée. Whatever his inspiration, the only saving grace was that it technically worked.
"Stop stop stop," Kurenai groaned. "You two have a lot of work ahead of you."
Somewhere deep in the bowels of Konoha, Danzo placed observations of taijutsu training next to transcripts of mission reports. "The fox has broken from his script," he mused. "We will have to change our plans."
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