The Color Blue

*~~*

"Hellooo?" Naruto called as he opened the front door of his old squad house.

"In here!" he heard Sparrow call from the kitchen. Shutting the door behind him, he walked into the kitchen. Sitting at the large table were Sparrow, Oriole, Neji, and Kurenai.

"Where's the rest of your team?" Naruto asked Sparrow as he sat down.

"Reconnaissance," Sparrow sighed. "Need them to spy while we train the newbies. No telling when Destruction will attack."

"True," Naruto agreed. "So how's training going?" He looked at Neji and Kurenai pointedly.

"Cardinal's doing well," Sparrow informed. "She's already very quick and stealthy. I don't think she can do much more than practice daily, and learn that taijutsu from your scroll." Kurenai smiled.

"And Falcon?" Naruto looked at Neji.

"Eagle is…very different from Gai-sensei," Neji answered, a frown on his face.

"He's picky, you mean," Naruto snickered. "He's a perfectionist. He's gonna be rough on you, especially since you don't know any chakra-less taijutsu. That's one of his specialties."

"I noticed," Neji frowned.

"That's why I put you there," Naruto said seriously. "I think you could be really good if you listen to him. And while I'm here, I need to tell you that you can use your Byakugan. This morning I realized I forgot to tell you."

When Neji gave him a confused look, Naruto explained everything the same way he had for Hinata.

"Well," Naruto turned to Kurenai, "since you've already been approved, I want you to go back to the mansion and train with Vixen and Fennec. Falcon, I want you to stay and train with Eagle some more. I'll go talk with him later." Naruto rose, telling Sparrow and Oriole to take Kurenai back to Tigerdragon's, and left.

After leaving, Naruto turned to find Husky's team. On his way, he walked past Squirrel and Lee.

"Squirrel!" he called out, waving two over.

"Did you resolve the name issue?" Naruto snickered at the flustered girl.

"Yes, actually. I am going to have them call me captain," the brunette answered, pointing at herself, "and he will be Squirrel."

Naruto nodded. "Okay, I guess. How's he doing?"

"Squirrel, will you go see what is taking the others so long?" she gestured behind them, where the rest of her team was lagging behind. Lee nodded emphatically and ran over to them.

Once Lee was gone, Squirrel turned back to Naruto. "Between you and me, he is amazing. He is like one of us!" she whispered excitedly, blush covering her cheeks. "His talents seem as though they have been wasted in Konoha. You can leave him with my team as long as you like."

Naruto laughed. "I knew he'd do well here. I'll leave him with you, then. See you later," he waved her off as he continued to Husky's.

Once he reached the Husky's squad house, Naruto knocked heavily. Husky answered the door and opened it wide.

"Sir," he greeted Naruto politely, gesturing for the blonde to come in. Naruto laughed and waved off the title.

"Just Fox, you know that," he said with a grin. "Where are the others?"

"One moment," Husky held up a finger and walked into another room. Suddenly Kakashi and Kiba ran in as though they had fire on their heels. Husky came in behind them more sedately, a wicked grin on his face

"How are they doing?" Naruto asked the Guild-nin while ignoring the nefarious smirk.

"Retriever's decent at speed, strength, and stealth. However, I think he could be much better. Shepherd's excellent at taijutsu with his dog, and he's got potential to be very fast. However, I don’t have any expectations regarding stealth. He just can't manage it." As Husky gave his report, Kakashi and Kiba frowned at their leader.

"What do you think I should do with them?" Naruto asked seriously.

"I think if you give them missions, it would be fine to leave them in my group. But if you mean training, I can continue teaching them. However, I think they could both use some lessons from Sparrow and Fennec. And Retriever could improve his stealth with some lessons from you." Kakashi jerked in indignation that Naruto could teach him about stealth.

"Right. Then can you take them both to sensei's? Sparrow and Fennec are already there, and they can help them. And if I get a chance, I'll get you a mission later today," Naruto thanked Husky for his opinion and set off to Boar's.

As he reached Boar's squad house, Naruto winced. He could hear Sakura and Ino screaming at each other from upstairs, and he could see Shikamaru dozing on the front porch.

As Naruto walked onto the porch, Boar walked out of the house, shaking his head and looking mortified.

"Bad?" Naruto asked sympathetically.

"Awful," Boar sighed, leaning against the front of the house.

"Are they progressing at all?" Naruto looked worried.

"Well, this lazy bum," Boar kicked Shikamaru, knocking him off the porch, "has great potential as a strategist, if nothing else. He's got stealth potential, too. But great strength or speed would be asking too much."

From the ground, Shikamaru frowned before pulling himself back onto the porch.

"I could do better," he muttered indignantly. "I just don't want to."

"We should keep him here, then," Naruto said. "Bat's great at strategy, too. They can help us a lot if they work together."

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream echoed from the house.

Afraid to ask out loud, the blonde pointed upstairs.

"Those two?" Boar moaned and rubbed his face in exhaustion. "They never stop. It's always, Pig-this, Billboard-brow-that. Or they have an all-out brawl in the house. It's Hell."

A loud crash came from inside the house.

"Are they advancing any?" Naruto looked concerned.

"The blonde has extreme stealth potential. She sneaks up behind me all the time, and that's saying something. I'd have Oriole set her up with some wicked weaponry, and she should be pretty deadly. And the pink girl," Boar sighed, "she's nuts."

Another crash rang through the air, followed by a loud booming noise.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto looked upwards, wishing he could see through the house.

"I'll kill you, Piggy!" Sakura shrieked from upstairs.

"She's got potential in everything. That's what Rex says, anyway. That she's kinda like you, but she just can't seem to focus. Every time we get near Fennec's team, she stares at that dark-haired guy. And if we're near Squirrel's team, she's hiding and screaming about caterpillars. And she can't seem to come to a truce with you-know-who," Boar gestured upstairs.

"I'll kill you, you damn cat!" Ino screamed. A crash followed her scream.

Naruto snickered lightly. "That's normal, I promise."

"That's not all, though," Boar said with a sigh. "She just can't seem to stop badmouthing people. You, for instance. I had to keep quite a few kunoichi from decking her. She probably could've taken it, but I didn't want to chance it. She needs to calm down and deal. I think if you talk her down, she'll do really well here."

Naruto frowned. "I'll try." Sighing, he walked upstairs.

As he reached the top of the steps, he had to dodge several kunai that were flying between two rooms on opposite ends of a hallway.

"Stop that!" he yelled, dropping as close to the floor as possible.

Both kunoichi popped out of their rooms, approaching Naruto with death in their eyes.

"Get me out of here!" they screamed simultaneously.

"Alright! That's enough!" Naruto roared, jumping up. "Kitten, go to your room. I have to talk to Pig!" Sakura started to yell insolently, but bit her lip and stomped back to her room, slamming the door.

Sighing, Naruto gestured for Ino to follow him back to her room. Inside the door, he sat down in a chair and shook his head.

"Okay, listen," he began, "Boar says you have potential. Tell him to take you to Oriole. She should be at sensei's. They're gonna work on your stealth, and get you a weapon. But," he gave her a warning look, "you have to start behaving here. No more fights with Kitten, okay? I'm gonna tell her the same thing. Just ignore her, if you have to."

Before the kunoichi could say anything, Naruto walked over to Sakura's room.

"Kitten?" he knocked before opening the door. Sakura was sitting on her bed, fuming.

"What's your problem?" Naruto asked the girl as he sat down in a chair.

"My problem? Oh, I don't know! I was only lied to, separated from my friends, forced to share a space with Piggy and strangers, and sent to my room like a kid! What is my problem, I wonder!" Sakura threw a pillow at her teammate, smacking him in the head.

"That's what this is about?" Naruto looked at her in surprise. "You're mad I lied?"

"Yes! Would it kill my teammates to tell me things! I can keep your secrets! I'm your teammate, and I can't even help you guys! You always leave me behind; just look at us now! You two are off with some of the best, and I'm sitting here like a little girl, getting schooled in the basics!" Sakura started crying. "Just get out!" she pointed at her door as she sobbed.

"Saku-" Naruto choked the name down as he rose automatically from his chair. "Listen, I didn't want anyone to know. It wasn't just you. I wasn’t trying to keep you out. And listen, your leader Rex is one of the best here. You're not being left behind. Once you get good enough, you'll be pulled off his team and brought onto mine." He sat down next to the pink-haired girl on her bed, giving her a hug.

"And if living here bothers you so much, you can come live with me and Vixen," he patted her gently on the back.

"Really? You're not leaving me behind again? Because I'm so tired of trying to catch you guys." She grinned and punched him in the arm.

"No. Now, do you want to come live with me?" he looked at her seriously.

"No, I can stick it here. I was just so worried that I was taking it out on Miss Piggy," she grinned. "I can deal. Really. Thank you."

He sighed. "Good. I have to go now, and check on everyone else," he turned to leave, and stopped. "Oh, and please stop screaming about caterpillars when you see Bushy-brows. Boar thinks you're mental."

Sakura snickered, and Naruto grinned. Finally, he was able to exit Boar's squad house, giving the sandy-haired Guild-nin a thumbs-up.

Still, Naruto felt worn out as he walked down the road. He still had five people to check on, he was exhausted, and it was almost noon.

Finally, Naruto approach Wasp's squad house, where Chouji and Shino should be training.

Naruto took and deep breath and knocked on the door.

Surprisingly, Shino answered the door, motioning for Naruto to come in.

"Where's Wasp?" he asked the taciturn ninja.

"He's outside, training Butterfly and Panda." Shino led Naruto out back.

"And Panda? She's supposed to be at Rhino's." Naruto exited the house to see TenTen and Chouji practicing taijutsu with Wasp. Shino shrugged slightly at Naruto's questioning look and joined the other leaf-nin in battle.

"What's going on?" Naruto yelled, attracting Wasp's attention. The older Guild-nin walked over, his grizzled face stubborn and annoyed.

"Rhino's been sick. His team hasn't come for the girl, so I'm training her to save time. Is there a problem with that?" the old man spit angrily and stared Naruto in the eye.

"Of course not, old man. Chill. I just came to see how everyone's doing, and I'm surprised she's here." He grinned placidly. The old man snorted and pursed his lips before grinning widely.

"I'm sure you are; you don't get surprised too often," Wasp cackled.

Naruto grinned in response. "So how are they doing?"

"Well, those two are really good," Wasp pointed at Shino and Chouji, "at taijutsu. But the girl's awful. She's trying, of course, but it's no use. She's really good at weapons, decent at speed and stealth. Might as well let me keep training her at taijutsu until you can get her to see Oriole and Sparrow. Rhino could help her with speed and stealth, but who knows when he'll get better. I'd like to keep training the boys, though. They've got some promise."

"Well, Sparrow and Oriole are taking students at sensei's right now, so just send Panda over there. Go ahead and keep training the others, though I want them to work with the girls at some point, too." Naruto said his goodbyes to Wasp and the three leaf-nin, and went in search of Gai and Asuma.

As he walked down an alleyway to Crocodile's house to see Gai, Naruto noticed Gai and Asuma sitting on a bench with several other, older ninja. All of them seemed to be busily eating lunch.

Stomach grumbling, Naruto walked over to a nearby food cart, ordered some ramen, and walked over to the older ninja.

"Hey, guys!" he chirped as he dug into his lunch.

"Sir," Crocodile and Kodiak nodded politely. The rest of their team bowed.

Gai and Asuma looked up with slight awe.

"Don't do that!" Naruto groaned. "You know that bothers me!"

"Sorry sir," Crocodile grinned. Kodiak echoed him.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto turned to each leader and asked, "How are they doing in training?"

"Well, I don't even know why you sent me the guy," Crocodile said exasperatedly. "He's the perfect recruit. Amazing speed, amazing strength. Could use some work on stealth, but otherwise, perfect." Gai beamed, giving Naruto the thumbs-up.

"I have the same complaint," Kodiak grinned. "You should have sent me a student to tear apart. An adult's so much harder to break. He's good in speed, good in strength, good in weapons, good in stealth. All-around good guy," he joked. Asuma grinned.

"Good," Naruto nodded. "I'll try to leave them with you guys for missions then. If you want them to work on anything, just send them to sensei's. I’m heading back there now, and the girls are already there." Smiling and exchanging goodbyes, Naruto headed back to Tigerdragon's mansion.

*~~*