Shadow Shinobi

Shortly after they arrive at the hospital Sakura who informs them that the Hokage wants them both examined before they’re allowed to visit their friends greets them. After a quick look over she tells them that they are both cleared to return to active duty once they’ve had a good nights rest. When they inquire about the others she tells them that while Kiba, Shino and Akamaru had sustained serious injuries they would be back on active duty in a couple of weeks.

Her teammates had taken the news of Hinata’s decision to become a teacher rather well and fully supported her taking the position at the Academy. “To be honest,” Kiba had told her. “You were never really cut out for fighting, your heart just wasn’t in it. I know you’ll be much better off as an instructor and will be much happier since you love children.” She had given him a hug as she thanked him for understanding.

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Three hours later Raven stands in front of the Hokage as he finishes giving his report on their mission. He waits silently as she stands up from her desk and walks over to the window. Staring out over the village below her back is still towards him as she speaks. “You took a dangerous gamble and risked the lives of your team. The proper thing to do once you learned about the three Mist-nin would have been to return to the village at once and reported the new information.”

“I know I went against procedure,” Raven admits. “But from our talk before my team left you yourself stated that there weren’t any available Jounin to assist with our mission and to wait for any of them to return from their own missions would have put more villages in danger. I made a decision and my team suffered for that decision. I am prepared to face the consequences of that decision. “

“Spoken like a true Jounin,” she says with a smile as she turns back around to face him. “I have been reviewing your file and previous mission reports as well as your team evaluations.” She sits back down at her desk and looks over the papers in front of her. “Seems you request that your team be with held from participating in the Chunin exams for three years. In that time your team completed numerous D&C Rank missions along with four B Rank and even two A Rank missions. The last being while your instructor was away on an S Rank assignment last year.”

“We weren’t ready,” Raven answers. “I know it is unheard of for a Genin to request their team be kept from consideration for the Chunin exams, especially for as long as we were. However I did not feel that we were ready for the exams. I had no doubts about my own abilities or that of our team’s as a whole but Jade and Sapphire were not ready to stand on their own and I was not about to put them the exams only to fail while I advanced. They are far too important to me to do that to them.”

“Well said,” Tsunade smiles again. “As for those consequences you spoke of.” Her smile quickly turns into an evil grin as she continues. “You will report to training field four at noon the day after tomorrow for your punishment.”

Raven nods but remains where he is as he says; “I wanted to talk to you about Hinata.”

“What about her,” Tsunade asks, a not of consern in her voice. “Sakura said she was in perfect health thanks to you. Is something wrong I should know about?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he assures her. “Before we returned I told her that Shikamaru had mentioned Usage-san was leaving the Academy at the end of the month and she is interested in the job.”

Tsunade smiles at him again. “Tell her to talk to me about it when she gives her report. Until then get some rest, you’re gonna need it.”

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The next day Tsunade calls six of the villages top Special Jounin into her office. Fei, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Anko and Gai all arrive as she explains their next assignment. “I have ordered Raven Hiroku report to training field four tomorrow at noon. I want the six of you to work with Shizune on testing his abilities. Fei-san, since you are his teacher you will be team leader for this mission. I will give Kakashi a scroll and the seven of you are to keep Raven from retrieving it and returning it to me for twenty-four hours. You are to use any means necessary short of actually killing him to accomplish your objective.”

“Hold up,” Anko says getting slightly irritated. “Tomorrows my first day off in a month and you want me to give it up to test some snot nosed brat?”

“Raven-sama is not some rookie Genin,” Fei says defending his student. “While he may have become a Chunin less then a month ago his skills are not to be taken lightly.”

“He can’t be that good.” Asuma says taking a drag from his cigerett. “I’ll admit the kid showed promise during the tournament but I didn’t see anything that warrants the seven of us testing him.”

“He was holding back during the tournament.” Fei tells them. “He didn’t want to hurt the others so you didn’t see the full extent of his skills.”

“Is he really that good?” Kakashi asks, leaning against the back wall.

Fei looks at the Copy-nin before replying, slightly sadly. “He’s better then Hino was.”

Kakashi stands up straight as his visible eye widens in surprise at the statement. “But Hino was…”

“Your Team’s Captain.” Fei says looking down at the floor. “I knew better then anyone how good my brother was so believe me when I tell you that our nephew buts us both to shame.”

“Is he really that powerful?” Kurenai asks. “Hinata’s never mentioned any unusual chakra from him.”

“It’s not that he’s powerful, If I had to wager a guess I’d say he’s no stronger then any of us in this room with the exception of Hokage-sama of course. No his strength lies in his mastery of our clan’s Jutsus and his ability to utilize those Jutsus to their full potental.”

“Explain,” Tsunade tells him.

“He’s able to use all three of our Shadow Weapon Jutsus but never relies on them to finish an opponent. Instead he uses the smoke created when the Jutsus expire as a smoke screen to get into a better potion to attack from. His Talking Shadows isn’t limited to just his voice like the rest of ours he can use it to imitate any sound he himself can imitate. He’s also learned to Shadow Walk body parts, not just his entire body.”

“What about his Chakra Charges?” Gai asks, remembering how that ability has disabled his beloved student.

“Let’s say he doesn’t need exploding tags anymore.” Raven’s teacher tells them. “He can set charges the way other shinobi can infuse chakra. His Guarding Palm is no longer limited to just his hands but can now be used with his entire body. He can hold Darkness of Shadows for up to half an hour though he only needs a minute to finish off any unfortunate enough to be caught inside. He’s a master at using his Shadow Blades and can sustain his Shadow vision longer and direct it farther then I could ever hope to. And his Shadow Replications are just as skilled and just as deadly as he is.”

“Anything else we should know?” Tsunade asks as she watches the looks on the Jounins’ faces. Anko has a wicked grin as if she’s looking forward to testing the Chunin she had earlier called a snot nosed brat. Gai has a look of excitement at testing the young man’s skills. Kakashi is lost in his own thoughts as are Kurenai and Asuma. Shizune looks a bit worried and Fei’s admiration for his student is obvious.
“Kurenai’s Genjutsus will be useless against his Shadow Eyes. Also while he lacks Shikamaru’s genius and strategic thinking he has above average intelligence and can think fast on his feet, over coming most challenges quickly.” They send the next two hours working out a strategy for the next day’s test before heading home to rest up.

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A/N: Okay over five days and 170 hits yet not one review or a single vote. It’s almost enough to make a guy stop writing. I’m not really asking for much here, just some indication what you think of the story so far. I can’t tell if you like it or not if you don’t give me some kind of feed back. Either way the story’s almost half over and I hope you’re enjoying it so far.