Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto, not me. However, Kosu and Hiro are mine. Warning, possible themes of a dark, violent or suggestive nature and use of mature language as the story progresses… They're ninja after all.

Chapter 15

Tokubetsu Genin

Kosu had removed the barricade of furniture and traps from the doors and windows. The shuttered windows kept the apartment draped in dim light despite the morning sun. Before her lay a large, glinting arsenal of kunai, shuriken, and senbon. Beside the sharps lay an assortment of basket bombs: poison, light, smoke, explosive. Some of which were timed detonation and others needed a trigger. The final portion of her funds had been spent on a mass of paper bombs which she'd carefully attached to kunai. She'd kept some of the explosive paper tags intact and others she'd carefully adapted to increase her options in combat.

And in a matter of moments the terrifying arsenal had disappeared and Kosu stood alone in her apartment. With nothing but a kunai pouch strapped over her black trousers there was no hint of just how armed the little girl was.

Despite the reassurance of the extensive arsenal at her disposal, Kosu's stomach still backflipped with nerves as she thought of her first task of the day. She'd forced her breakfast down her throat out of necessity of nourishment rather than enjoyment of the meal.

With a deep inhale, Kosu squared her shoulders and left her dark apartment.

A door had never looked so intimidating. Just a simple wooden door painted a pleasant blue colour in a corridor of many identical doors. It was what lay beyond it – who lay beyond it – that had Kosu's knuckles hovering over the glossy wood.

Knock.

Silence.

Shuffling feet.

He's there. She inhaled sharply.

"Hiro… It's me." Kosu pressed her palm to the cool door. The pound of her heart in her ears counted the seconds of silence. Hiro didn't reply.

Please.

"I know you're angry and hurt. And I know I'm the one who's made you feel like that." Kosu said and dropped her forehead against the door. "But I also know you don't cry alone in a room anymore. I know that you're surrounded by everyone here and they love you. And need you to know that I will never stop loving you. I'm still going to do everything I can to protect you. I'm a ninja now, I'm going to protect everything you have here."

Silence.

Her hand balled into a fist against the door. With a sigh she stepped away. Hiro may still have his back turned to her, but he knew she was there. He knew she still looked out for him still. And for now, that had to be enough.

X

Kosu rapped her knuckles against the door to the Hokage's office. The metal plate on the back of her fingerless black gloves winked the light of the corridor back at her. As she dropped her hand the long sleeves of the loose collared dark grey top dropped past her finger tips and hid the only visible evidence of her tattoos.

"Come in." The Hokage's voice carried through the heavy door.

She knew all the faces that looked at her as she entered. The three jonin stood before the Hokage blinked at her in surprise. Shikaku's brow twitched upwards as the robust man next to him tilted his head in confusion. Meanwhile a happy smirk formed on the face of the tall blonde at the end of the line as his gaze noted the Konoha forehead protector that sat around her neck on top of the bandages that wrapped her neck.

"Right on time Kosu. You've already met Shikaku Nara. This is Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka." The Hokage waved his hand to make the introductions. Kosu nodded her head in polite greeting. "As I've mentioned to all of you separately, this is very unusual. Adding a genin to a jonin team is not commonly done. But these circumstances are not typical." He continued as Kosu stepped forwards to line up alongside the three men. She stood next to Inoichi and the height difference between the pair was almost comical. Kosu resisted the urge to look up at the blonde. She could all but feel the gleeful smirk he continued to shoot in her direction.

"The Ino-Shika-Cho formation has proven itself time and time again, but in a few weeks Inoichi will have to begin his duties as a genin squad leader. Kosu will take his place." Hiruzen said.

"Lord Hokage, are you sure that's for the best?" Choza asked as he looked down at Kosu. He dwarfed her even more than Inoichi's tall frame did.

"I assume you have some unique ability or jutsu?" Shikaku asked as he eyed Kosu. And battle combat experience beyond that of a typical academy graduate. He thought. Those were the two conditions that needed to be fulfilled to even consider replacing a jonin with a genin.

"Indeed. It's ideal for infiltration and information retrieval – which are the primary mission types assigned to your squad." Hiruzen took a deep inhale from his pipe. "Kosu has a unique style of fūinjutsu." Choza frowned, but bit back his objections.

"Well isn't this an interesting turn of events." Inoichi smirked. "You're going to be the new me kid, think you've got what it takes?"

Kosu narrowed her eyes at him and clearly saw the question hidden behind his words. He was testing her – a baited question to try to get an early measure of her character. If she said 'no' she'd sound unconfident in her own ability and the judgement of the Hokage. If she said 'yes' she'd sound overconfident and naïve.

"Do you trust the Hokage's judgement?" Kosu held a level stare up at Inoichi.

"Well put." He said. "But you didn't answer my question."

"And wasting time here talking isn't going to answer your question." Shikaku sighed.

"I just want to get to know our little teammate here."

"You'll be able to familiarise yourselves with a week of training together before you officially receive your first mission." The Hokage said. "Kosu, pay attention and listen, there's a lot you can learn from these three." Kosu nodded and read into his words. Play nice. Play as a team. "Dismissed."

Kosu turned and headed for the door, the three adults fell into step behind her.

"Alright boy, let's go see these fancy seals of yours." Shikaku may have yawned through the sentence, but there was a hidde spark of curiosity in his eyes that rivalled that of Inoichi's.

"I'm a girl." Kosu tossed the statement casually over her shoulder as she left the Hokage's office.

The three men faltered in their step and glanced between each other as if to confirm they'd all heard the same claim. Inoichi's grin widened. He looked skyward and mouthed a silent 'thank you' to whatever universal forces had brought his and Kosu's paths to cross.

"Come on." Choza tugged Inoichi's sleeve. Thank Kami Kosu was replacing Inoichi instead of Shikaku. Choza wasn't sure how much of Inoichi's 'intrigue' he could tolerate.

Kosu's mind worked a mile a minute as she walked from the Hokage's office. Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi, three of the renown clans of Konoha according to the library texts she'd read. And each had powerful clan jutsu and techniques. Kosu remembered the terrifying paralysis of Shikaku's shadows all too well. That was no doubt just the beginning of what he was capable of.

"You're a girl?" Inoichi asked as he caught up to Kosu. He reached over her head and held the door to the street open for her. To his amusement Kosu looked bemused at the gesture but walked through.

"Should we help her?" Choza murmured to Shikaku as they followed the pair. Shikaku watched as Kosu threw an exasperated look up at Inoichi that clearly said, 'that's what I said'. I'm not sure she's the one that needs help Choza.

"Just wanted to check, you've been running around as a boy since you stumbled through Nara forest." Inoichi held his hands up. Kosu sighed and turned her focus to the path. So some news of who I am has spread through the ranks. Inoichi hadn't gotten any less strange since she'd encountered him in the Nara district. At least Choza-san and Shikaku-san seemed saner.

"I'm just curious, it's not something I've seen a child do before." Inoichi continued to try to gleam something from the girl.

"Maybe they don't need to hide themselves when they're already hidden behind walls and a massive Konoha shinobi force." Kosu said. They could grow up safe. Hiro could grow up safe.

For the first time since they'd met Inoichi's gleeful smile softened into something more genuine. Could it be you've stepped out from behind a protective layer deerstalker?

A small part of Inoichi wished he'd met Kosu when she'd first arrived and been able to witness the feral child in all her rawness. But the much larger part of him was glad to see her more at ease with life in Konoha. Contrary to Daiki's belief rushing Kosu through the academy to genin was completely the right thing for her. Her time before Konoha had done more than imbue her with an unwavering need to survive, it defined who she was at her core – a protector. And with the Konoha forehead protector around her neck she'd joined the greatest protection force the village had. The academy was a sheltering environment, and rightly so for the majority of student passed through it's gates. But for a child like Kosu, that shelter must have been suffocating.

The four entered a large open training space. A large boulder sat in the centre of a huge plain of grass, surrounded by the thick forest of trees that penned them in. Shikaku and Choza closed the distance to the pair having sense Inoichi get over his initial intrigue of the Deerstalker.

"How do you get to know new shinobi?" Kosu addressed the question to the three jonin as they neared the boulder. "Spar?" It had been the trailed and tested method she'd gotten to know Kakashi by. Kosu couldn't fight her instinctual frown at the thought of the silver haired boy.

"In a way." Shikaku replied. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small red scroll. Inoichi and Choza smirked. "Your objective is to capture this scroll. The three of us will take turns defending it." Kosu tracked his hand as he placed the scroll on top of the boulder and tried to detect any sleight of hand. None… or he was very good.

"You're getting the same rite of passage we did." Choza said. Kosu blinked in surprise at the wash of warmth his words brought over her. "Convince us you deserve a place on this squad, or we'll request your transfer."

"Word of advice, you're going to have to come at us like you're trying to kill us." Inoichi said. Kosu raised an eyebrow at him. She'd heard that advice several times before though… Konoha ninja never truly meant it as genuinely as they said it.

Kosu trailed her gaze over the three jonin before her and, under the cover of her long sleeves stealthily sealed her gloves. The three men made no indication that they knew she'd performed her first act of fūinjutsu and in effect primed every weapon in her arsenal. Not that Kosu was fooling herself into believing she could realistically beat any of them in a straight up spar. They were jonin for a reason. Though, as Shikaku had said, her objective wasn't to defeat them. Kosu only had to build enough of a gap for her to weasel through and take the scroll.

"And since it's me you're replacing…" Inoichi waved his arm welcoming her to come at him. Kosu turned her stance square to Inoichi but tracked Shikaku and Choza in her periphery as they stepped to the side of the forming battle.

Inoichi Yamanaka – beyond having the skill and intelligence of a jonin, Inoichi was the clan leader of the Yamanaka clan and likely highly proficient in whatever their specialist jutsu was. Shit, he could have a kekkei genkai for all she knew.

Focus. Objective.

Inoichi stood a few metres from the boulder and directly between her and her target. When he made no motion to act first or move from is blocker position, Kosu took the initiative.

Need to get a gauge of his style and unique techniques.

Kosu dropped back a few metres and set off in a sprint in a large circle around the boulder. Inoichi's head titled in intrigue as he casually moved himself to always be between Kosu and the scroll. She scanned the field, a large open space with only the large boulder for cover.

Perfect.

She flexed her fingers and unlocked seal after seal. Under the cover of her sleeves the kunai and shuriken dropped into her palms. The cold metal barely pressed against her skin before she threw them with startling speed and accuracy at Inoichi.

Inoichi's eyes widened as a barrage of glinting metal hurtled towards him. How quick was her draw? He hadn't even been able to track her drawing the weapons from her pouches. His casually pace was quickly abandoned for a rapid series of dodges and blocks. The quick-fire clang of metal on metal played a symphony to the sparks that erupted between the pair. The kunai showered down on him relentlessly.

So she likes sharps. Inoichi's gaze narrowed as he eyed the small girl. He ignored the sting of the small nicks from where the kunai and shuriken had grazed him. No way her weapons pouches are that deep. His eyes widened in realisation. He hadn't seen her reach for her weapons pouch because she wasn't reaching for it. The deerstalker literally had a trick hidden up her sleeve. Fūinjutsu, of course.

Kosu eyed the halo of fallen kunai and shuriken that surrounded the boulder. The spikes of metal jutted from the earth and through hours of practise her mind found the potential trajectory paths. She skidded to a stop and threw two kunai. The first flew towards Inoichi in a flight path she knew he'd dodge rather than deflect having observed him through her barrage of projectiles. He moved, allowing the kunai to connect with the shuriken lodged into the ground and deflect back at Inoichi. His eyes widened in surprise as he struggled to dodge the surprise attack from behind. In his distracted state he failed to tract the second kunai as it rebounded off several fallen kunai and shuriken. On its last rebound it was thrown upwards and the handle smacked into the scroll, knocking it from the top of the boulder and towards Kosu.

A smirk hinted at the corner of her mouth as she tracked the arcing scroll.

"Mind destruction jutsu."

Moments before the scroll landed in her hand a searing pain erupted in her head. A presence so distinctly not her own trampled over her inner energy.

Fuck.

"What the hell is this?" Inoichi's voice echoed and twisted around her skull. Her teeth slammed together, and she screwed her eyes shut. It took all she had to bite back a cry of pain as she hunched over. Kosu pressed her hands to her temples, as if that would do anything to ease the pain.

Inoichi's heavy prescence in her mind vanished as suddenly as it had arrived. Kosu panted heavily as the shock of his invasion vibrated through her head. Her brow furrowed as her already turbulent chakra stormed inside of her head.

"Kosu, look at me." Inoichi's real voice came into focus. Kosu forced her eyes open and fought against the glare of daylight. Her gaze caught sight of Inoichi's hand as it reached to tilt her head up to look at him. Reflexively she batted his hand away and stared darkly up at him. "What did you do?" He asked. The usual playful glint to his blue eyes had been vanished and matched the sharp focus in his eyes.

It was his fucking jutsu.

"What happened?" Shikaku asked as he and Choza joined them, the same concern etched on their features.

"My mind-body disturbance technique failed." Inoichi hadn't taken his eyes from Kosu. "Who taught you how to disrupt your chakra like that? I couldn't even get close to the chakra near your nervous system to be able to take over control of it."

So that was one of the great Yamanaka skills. Kosu swallowed the thick lump that formed in her throat at the thought of someone else taking over control of her body and leaving her to be nothing but a passenger inside of herself.

"Starvation taught me." Kosu said with bitter humour as her breath returned to normal and the residual ripples of the migraine dissipated. "My chakra is constantly turbulent across my entire body because it leaks from my damaged chakra network – it's why I can't perform ninjutsu or genjutsu and makes me difficult to heal using medical ninjutsu. Though by the looks of things it seems to help defend against invading foreign chakras."

"Starvation did this?" Choza asked a hint of weariness crept into his question.

"My body needed to turn chakra into calories." Kosu said. Choza lips tightened into a frown. He knew from personal experience how agonising the reverse was - turning calories into chakra. It had been theorised amongst the Akimichi that the reverse was possible, if the user had the strength of will to endure the pain of cannibalising their body. Choza held Kosu's hard grey stare. She doesn't even regret it. Just how strong was her will to survive.

"The technique wasn't meant to hurt you." Inoichi said gently.

Kosu narrowed her eyes at him. He better not be apologising. If they didn't hurt her in training, someone else was going to kill her outside of the village. To her relief Inoichi simply left the statement as it was, almost as if he could sense her thoughts. With no following apology Kosu's frustration dissipated. He understood. She cast her gaze over the three of them. They all did. Kosu inclined her head towards him.

"You ready to go again kid?" Choza asked.

"Of course." Kosu replied as if the answer was obvious. Inoichi tossed the scroll to Choza who headed off to replace it back on the boulder. He and Shikaku watched as Kosu followed after him, making no effort to hide how she eyed up Choza and tried to gleam all she could from her pending opponent.

"You believe her? That that's how her chakra network got to the state it is?" Inoichi ask Shikaku.

"I believe she believes it." Shikaku replied. "Plus, Choza didn't seem all that surprised." Inoichi sighed and ran his hand over his jaw. "Don't let her catch you pitying her." Shikaku glanced to Inoichi.

"Wouldn't dare to." He crossed his arms over his chest. "She's talented with weapons, but Choza isn't going to let her fall back to them." Inoichi eyed Shikaku. As much as he tried to relax against a tree trunk behind them, the bright light of intrigue clearly shone in his dark eyes. "You want to see what the deerstalker's got up her sleeve as much as I do."

"I want to know who taught her." Shikaku finally gave up feigning disinterest.

"I noticed her tailing Kushina. They seemed to know each other."

Shikaku hummed thoughtfully as Kosu and Choza stood facing each other with the scroll resting on top of the boulder behind Choza.

Kosu made the mistake of darting her gaze from Choza to the scroll in order to check he'd not performed any sleight of hand. In the blink of an eye the Bo staff wielding man appeared in front of her. Unlike in her fight with Inoichi, she wasn't going to be able to try to circumvent her opponent. He came at her in an offense is the best defence strategy.

He's fast for his size!

Kosu's eyes widened. She rolled to dodge his swinging fist. Choza's hit shattered the earth with a chilling crack. Kosu's jaw tightened. I can't let him hit me. The difference between Choza and Inoichi's style was blindingly clear. Whilst the blonde had preferred to wait at mid to long range to gauge his opponent, Choza had seen her use of projectiles and wasn't going to allow her the luxury of using them against him. She'd openly admitted to them that ninjutsu and genjutsu were not in her skillset and Choza was clearly testing her taijutsu against his own.

It made for an interesting matchup – Choza's heavy fist against her wicked fast open palm. Thankfully, Choza's style echoed Daiki's, so an element of muscle memory had Kosu twisting gracefully to dodge the heavy blows. She tried to spy gaps in his style to attack the inherent weaknesses in the human body, the ligaments of his knees, the unprotected vessels in his neck. It became clear all too quickly Choza was purposefully baiting her.

Kosu jabbed at his neck, intending to compromise his windpipe. With jonin speed he dodged and brought the lethal Bo staff down at her. Against his expectations Kosu met the Bo staff with her palm and sealed it. Choza blinked, startled at the sudden disappearance of his weapon.

There.

Kosu took the opening and dropped low. She darted around Choza, using her minute size and agility to her advantage. Her open palm swung in an arc. Just like before Choza leaned forwards to dodge the impending hit. At the last second, she unsealed a kunai into her palm and swiped across the back of his legs, determined to sever both Achille's tendons.

The metal cut through his sandals and the blade glittered red having bitten into his skin. Her gaze narrowed in the muscle bulk of his calf as it remained in place – no recoil from a snapped tendon. Shit. She'd missed. He'd pulled further forwards the moment he'd heard the whistle of swinging metal.

Choza retaliated instantly and Kosu barely had time to brace as his heavy kick made harsh contact with her arm block. Her side screamed in pain as the force of the kick sent her hurtling across the field. Only due to the harsh pain of her training with Daiki and Kakashi had she conditioned her battle clarity to see through the blinding white of pain that threatened to flood her system. She twisted in the air and skidded to a stop as her feet contacted the dry earth. Her arm throbbed at her side as she eyed the golem of a man between her and her objective. She couldn't beat him; they both knew that. And for as long as he stood as a blocker between her and scroll, she couldn't get to it.

But maybe he could help her get there.

Kosu subtly flexed the muscles in her already bruising arm. He'd not broken anything. With that confirmed she took off in a sprint for a frontal attack. All three men narrowed their gaze at the sudden change in tactic from Kosu. She'd already shocked them by sealing Choza's weapon mid fight. What other tricks did she have up her sleeve?

Kosu neared Choza and watched with baited nerves as he clenched his right fist, ready to knock her back down. Her timing had to be perfect. There was the finest moment between waiting until Choza's punch had committed to its trajectory to being too late and getting pummelled by it.

Now.

Kosu snapped her palms in front of her and grasped the end of the Bo staff as it appeared in front of her. With one end in her grip, she planted the other on the ground and vaulted up with the momentum. She scrambled to perch on top of the staff as Choza's punch smacked into the bottom half. The effect was instant and catapulted Kosu over Choza's head and straight towards the scroll.

"Partial expansion jutsu!"

A giant palm hooked alongside Kosu and batted her out of the air. The hand smacked into her body and threw her across the field. Kosu desperately tried to right herself but before her feet could touch the ground her back slammed into the hard trunk of a tree. The wood splintered behind her as her body cut a deep hollow into the trunk. Her breath rushed from her chest. Blinding pain exploded across her body and threatened to blur her vision.

She stumbled from the tree and watched as Choza's partially expanded giant hand picked up the scroll and shrank back to normal size. So that was the Akimichi technique. No wonder they were renowned for their strength and fearsome taijutsu. Kosu exhaled slowly as her stuttering breaths finally calmed and she breathed more easily.

The three jonin watched as Kosu left the dented tree behind her and walked towards them. So she could take a hit. They confirmed to their relief.

Choza was carefully inspecting his Bo staff when the three others joined him in the centre of the training ground. It was his staff. Choza looked to Kosu in poorly hidden wonder. Her seemingly limitless arsenal could be explained by a pre-prepared seal hidden somewhere up her sleeve. But for her to be able to configure, write and seal his staff amid a continuous taijutsu battle… and then to use it against him. Choza glanced to Inoichi who shared his look of astounded wonder.

"Let's get this over with." Shikaku sighed as he took the scroll from Choza and walked with Kosu to reset the challenge.

"Are you still doubting her joining the team?" Inoichi asked him as the pair cleared the field. Choza sighed.

"She's not a typical genin." The concern that he and Shikaku would be pseudo escorts/bodyguards for her on their future missions had been elevated somewhat. Kosu could clearly hold her own, perhaps even have his and Shikaku's backs in battle. He thought back to the feint punch when she'd drawn the surprise kunai. The kid knew exactly how to cut his legs from under him. If he hadn't seen Inoichi's fight and been expecting the quick draw, would he have gotten away from that strike? Hell, what if she'd decided to go for a vital spot?

"She's our deerstalker, of course she isn't." Inoichi chuckled. "You had a closer view than I did, any idea just what she's got hidden up her sleeve?"

"Fūinjutsu like I've never seen before." His grip tightened on his Bo staff. It had been a unique unsettling experience to have his favourite weapon pulled from his possession. "I'm sure Shikaku has a better idea."

"I'm pretty sure he's worked it out."

Kosu faced Shikaku and scanned the battleground before them. With the addition of the cracks left by Choza's hits at the halo of kunai she'd littered around the giant boulder, the arena remained largely the same. It was still a large open space. Ideal for watching the shadows.

And here they come.

Kosu jumped back as fast as the shadow raced forwards. Her suspicion was proved correct as the shadow strained to reach her and revealed Shikaku's range. Kosu looked up and narrowed her eyes at the scroll. Safe as she was from his shadow paralysis jutsu, as Shikaku kept close enough to the boulder she'd never retrieve the scroll.

She unsealed a set of kunai into either palm. He'd block or dodge for sure, but she needed to know which he tended towards. If he leant towards dodging, maybe she could herd him from the boulder. Shikaku either realised that, or simply wasn't the type to move unnecessarily. Whichever it was, Kosu narrowed her eyes as he drew his own kunai and deflect each of hers.

Time for something you can't deflect.

She unsealed two kunai with paper bombs wrapped around the grips at Shikaku. The paper sparked mid-flight. Shikaku's eyes widened and he ducked quickly behind the boulder for cover. She unsealed more kunai into her hands. In her right hand sat four with fully intact paper bombs wrapped around them. In her left, and almost identical, were four kunai wrapped in paper bomb tags she'd carefully altered.

Kosu jumped into the air and in a rapid twist of precision throwing she sent the kunai hurtling towards the area around the boulder. She unsealed and threw a faster chasing kunai to redirect a paper bomb wrapped kunai to the blind spot behind the boulder. She landed on the ground and took off in a sprint towards the boulder, specifically approaching the side where the altered paper bombs would hit.

A series of rapid explosions shook the far side of the boulder and blew chunks of rock from its side. Shikaku dashed from the blooming cloud of explosion, a shadow chasing from his feet.

How did he know what side to dodge to? He anticipated the altered paper bombs?

Kosu's eyes widened as she landed on the boulder, the scroll just out of reach, and a black shadow raced at her. Shit. She jumped back off of the boulder, the chakra flooding her muscle surged and added to the speed of her retreat. From within the shadow chasing her a thin black projection lashed out from the shadow on the ground.

A shadow within a shadow?

Her eyes widened as the second shadow whipped towards her. Shikaku had specifically baited her into the air where he knew she couldn't dodge.

He wasn't the only one with an ace in the hole.

Kosu unsealed two kunai wrapped with altered paper bombs and threw them at the non-detonated kunai embebbed on the boulder and ground near Shikaku. The kunai landed with pinpoint precision. As the handles formed an 'X' and the altered paper tags touched, two blasts tore through the battlefield.

With Shikaku's attention suddenly pulled from her as he dodged the blasts, Kosu retreated out of his range. That shadow jutsu is a problem, especially in the hands of someone who can think so strategically. She eyed Shikaku from across the rubble and projectile littered training ground. From the corner of her eyes she spied the scroll as it lay flat on the ground a few meters from where it started due to the blasts.

I'm not going to get many more shots at making it to the scroll. He'd almost caught her the first time.

Suddenly her muscles turned rigid and conscious control was pulled from her. She blinked at the ground in surprise. Where was the shadow? I know I'm out of range?

"It's a bit unusual for the shadows of the debris to connect to each other like that huh?" Shikaku drawled. Kosu's body was forced to mimic the casual slouch of Shikaku. Her eyes stayed glued to the floor as dread filled her stomach. He was right, the shadows from the kunai and shuriken seemed to stretch too far to meet the shadows cast by the rubble. The shadows wiggled and a more pronounced twisting path came into view linking them to each other. She frowned as she noticed the jutsu specifically dipped into naturally cast shadows.

"That's how you increased you range." She narrowed her eyes on him. She'd set it up perfectly for him. He knew exactly the distance she'd retreat to and she'd given him the means and cover to launch a stealth attack. Fuck.

A small smirk settled on Shikaku's face as he confirmed her conclusion. She thinks more battle critically than the average genin. He noted with approval. Kosu instinctively tensed as she began walking forwards against her own will towards Shikaku. In her periphery she could see Inoichi and Choza walking to join them.

"Now let's see what you're hiding up your sleeves girl." Shikaku raised his arms. As Kosu raised hers as if in surrender. Her loose sleeves fell down to bunch around her shoulders. The length of her arms were wrapped in bandages but the stark black kanji that covered her hands was plain for the three jonin to see. Wide eyed shock bloomed across all three of the jonin.

As the three stared at her hands in shock Kosu's eyes strained to look for the scroll. 25 metres. She could make 25 metres with enough of a distraction.

Even Shikaku stared in disbelief as he'd incorrectly assumed the secret to her technique – he figured she'd have a complex paper seal wrapped around her arms and hands. Her whole body is the medium, that isn't possib… Suddenly her words from earlier echoed through his mind.

"Your damaged chakra network makes this possible." He stated. Inoichi and Choza finally tore their gaze from her hands to look at their comrade. In the moment of distraction Kosu unsealed an explosive bomb basket from each palm and watched as they fell to the ground, willing Shikaku's concentration to break. Before they could even touch the ground Inoichi had retreated and Choza partially expanded his hands to form a shield for himself and Shikaku.

He was willing to be a shield. His expanded form must be more durable to physical attacks than the average person. Kosu mused as she eyed the Akimichi clan leader.

"Don't worry they're not selfdetonating." Shikaku said. Choza hesitated for a moment before he unlaced his giant fingers and his hands shrank back to normal. He blinked in surprise as the spherical bomb baskets rolled towards them and settled peacefully on the ground.

He called the bluff.

"You can't throw anything whilst you're paralysed, and there's no way you'd know how far the bomb baskets would roll… You could have just as easily exploded yourself if you used self-detonating." He said.

Kosu frowned. Smart opponents were always the most dangerous. And he'd had the benefit of watching her fight twice before their battle. But as she carefully watched the basket bombs from her periphery as they came to rest nearer the jonin pair she narrowed her eyes. I've also seen your technique shadow-ninja – and not all of me is paralysed.

Confusion flashed in Shikaku's eyes at the change in Kosu.

Kosu touched the tip of her tongue to the roof of her mouth and unsealed a senbon through the small Uzumaki focal point tattooed to the underside of her tongue. It had been Shikaku's jutsu and Daiki's taijutsu holds that had inspired the need for his hidden tattoo in the eventuality her entire body was immobilised. With her mouth free she spat the senbon with wicked speed at the basket bomb nearest them.

Milliseconds before the explosion, Shikaku's tight hold on her body vanished and the pent-up tension in her muscles released. She shot off like a snapped elastic band.

15 metres.

She stretched her hand out.

5 metres.

She could get to it.

1 metre.

Kosu grunted something pulled her to an abrupt stop. She gasped as a tight band wrapped around her body. This felt different to the shadow paralysis jutsu. This was more like an unbreakable rope had wrapped around her and restrained her entire body. Her eyes widened as a hand of shadow rushed up her neck and clamped over her mouth.

Fuck. She strained against the shadow restraints, the tips of her fingers only centimetres from the scroll. Shikaku's hold didn't budge and as her face reddened with strain. She finally relaxed and sighed though her nose.

I'm not the kunoichi you wanted me to be yet Mito-sensei.

The shadow loosened from around her and retreated to Shikaku. Choza picked up the dusty scroll that Kosu had failed to get even once. This was the evidence they needed to convince the Hokage to rethink her position on the squad.

She straightened up as Shikaku released her, only for Inoichi's hand to gently ruffle the ash coloured hair on her head. Kosu looked up and him and blinked in surprise at his bright smile.

"Kami, give you an inch and you take a mile." It almost seemed like he was praising her.

"You might be a genin, but I can see why the Hokage has placed you on our squad." Choza said as he offered her the scroll. Kosu hesitated for a moment put accepted the scroll from Choza.

"Choza-san." She nodded her thanks.

"You can drop the honorifics right now kid," he laughed heartily. Kosu looked away to hide the faint smile that pulled at her lips.

"I've never seen fūinjutsu like this. Did Kushina teach you?" Inoichi asked. A melancholic hint claimed the egde of her faint smile.

"Mito Uzumaki-sensei did." Kosu met their gazes. Sympathy bore down at her from three directions and she desperately wished for them not to say anything. There wasn't anything they could say. "As far as she knew, I'm the only one who can do this."

"Well I think the best way for us to move on from here is to sit down and discuss some formations for Kosu-Shika-Cho." Shikaku sighed. "And we can do that from the bar."

Kosu raised an eyebrow. It's not even midday.

"I'll just collect everything." Kosu darted off before either of them could speak. At an alarming speed Kosu circled the battlefield and resealed everything that she'd thrown. Mito had once commented to Kosu, during one of their many tea breaks, that since her chakra so readily flooded her body, being able to utilise it to strengthen and quicken her movements should be easier for her than most. Kosu had by no means recognised her full potential, but her speed had increased due to her training.

She unsealed her gloves and walked towards her teammates. Kosu looked to Shikaku who eyed the surrounding treetops, and as she glanced to Inoichi and Choza she noticed them doing the subtly same. She tilted her head down as she put her gloves on slowly and used it as a way to disguise her actions. With her eyes closed Kosu focussed on the new sense her body had developed with the aid of the tattoos. Nothing stood out quite like the huge seal and huge chakra within Kushina, but she just needed to quite that out. Kosu turned her attention to the layer of chakra that flooded just below her skin.

Immediately to her left and right she could feel the resonance of the seals within the pockets of Shikaku, Inoichi and Choza. Without being in physical contact the configuration was blurry, like trying to read something at the bottom of a rippling pool of water. To her surprise it was as if something abstract echoed from the seal, like a picture could illustrate someone's face compared to a written paragraph describing the same features. It was like an instinct, an echo of the intention of the seal. The intention of their seals was familiar enough for her to identify them as paper bombs.

Kosu turned her attention further from the three jonin and strained to open her pooling chakra to receive signals from any other near by seals. Paper bombs were a common shinobi tool, most ninja carried them.

There.

Her brow furrowed as she focused on the faint prickling and urged her body to unravel the message projected by the nearby seal. Being further the details were even blurrier. But there was a harsh echo of the intent behind the seal. That is no paper bomb. Kosu could only deduce three things for certain as the seal within the forest moved.

1 – The seal had been on someone.

2 – They had been watching them.

3 – They bore a seal designed to influence or command.

Kosu exhaled slowly and finished pulling her gloves on. There had been no other trace that the person watching them had been there. Their presence had been completely masked to all her 'normal' senses. Was this the skill of a truly elite ninja?

"Who was that?" She asked quietly once she was sure the seal had left their immediate area.

"What?" Choza's jaw slackened. How did she?

"That ninja that was there, do you know who it was?" She said.

"You could tell they were there?" Inoichi asked. Kosu raised her brow at him, so who was it?

"There were two of them actually." Shikaku said. Kosu frowned. She needed to improve her awareness.If there was a chance she'd encounter ninja of that calibre… she needed to exceed that standard. Or at the very least find methods to counter it.

"They're Anbu, they spend more time in the shadows than I do." Shikaku sighed. Whilst he'd expected an Anbu presence at their training session, Shikaku had hoped that there would only be one present from the Hokage's branch of Anbu. To his displeasure an Anbu from the Foundation had also spied on Kosu's challenge. Well at least the Deerstalker can tell when she's being stalked by the Foundation.

"Kid, it's impressive you knew one was there at all." Choza said.

"He was carrying some sort of fūinjutsu. I can feel that like you can see a campfire in the night." She said with a dismissive shake of her head. "I need you to teach me how you sensed the other Anbu."

The Hokage was right. She had so much to learn from the jonin before her and due to her unique skill set, she had something to offer them in return.

"I will happily be your sensei." Inoichi placed his hand graciously to her chest.

"You're about to get your own genin team." Choza rolled his eyes.

"Let's go already." Shikaku called over his shoulder as he slouched his way across the training field.

X

"You're joking?" Inoichi raised his eyebrows at the bartender of their favourite watering hole.

"He's a minor."

"She's a ninja." Inoichi corrected. Kosu went rigid in at the sheer passion in his voice. Her jaw slackened as she watched the blonde so vehemently vouch for her. "This is a shinobi bar. What, you can let her risk her life for the village, but you can't let her sit at a booth? She won't be drinking."

"She's a genin. She's not exactly risking her life on D rank missions. She's still a minor. She's not getting in." The bartender snapped and turned on his heel. The door slammed shut behind him into the faces of the four shinobi.

"For crying out loud."

"I've got somewhere we can go." Choza interrupted before Inoichi could rant.

"Do they sell booze?" Shikaku asked.

"And BBQ." Choza smirked.

The four quickly headed to the BBQ restaurant Choza knew and settled into a booth. The rich scent of cooking meet and sweet marinade filled Kosu's nose. The heat from the smouldering coals in the centre of the table licked against her face as she leaned over to view the BBQ pit. A friendly looking teenage waiter quickly arrived at their table and Choza took no time in ordering masses of food. Kosu took the time to scan the other booths as the restaurant began to see the beginning of the lunchtime rush. They have no idea just how much of a luxury this is.

Her gaze settled on a family of four: mother, father, brother, and sister all smiling and laughing. Kosu failed to catch her train of thought and asked herself what if? How different would Hiro's life have been if they came to a place like Konoha.

"Kosu." Choza pulled her from her thoughts. "What would you like?" He looked down at her from his seat next to her.

"I'll eat anything." She shrugged. Whilst the waiter continued to smile pleasantly, the comment carried more weight for the three jonin who know her history.

"Anything else?" The waiter asked as Choza put the menu down.

"Two bottles of sake." Shikaku's mouth barely moved as he rested his chin on the palm of his hand.

"And some water." Inoichi added. With that the waiter left for the bar and connecting kitchen area. Kosu clenched her teeth and made a physical effort not to let her attention drift back over to the happily family. She tried to will the deep bubble of envy that threatened to pop within her. She shouldn't envy them, how could a family like that protect themselves from the world?

"You ever had BBQ before Kosu?" Inoichi asked from across the table. She shook her head.

"You'll love it. They have the best marinade here and every cut of meat if bought fresh from Goro's." Choza smiled dreamily at the thought. The waiter returned with their drinks and Shikaku's eyes flashed in delight as he immediately began pouring the sake.

"Well in that case we'll have to keep coming back until you've tried everything on the menu." Inoichi said casually.

"No complaints from me." Choza chuckled.

Kosu eyed the blonde haired man opposite her. Her mouth ran dry as she found no ill intent hiding in his gaze. He actually wanted her to be around. She glanced to Shikaku and Choza. They all did. The little ball of envy dissipated and, in its place, a warm pleasant spark echoed through her.

"I'd like that." The admission was hard to make and took Inoichi slightly aback. But a warm smile soon returned to his face.

X

Kosu placed her hands in her pockets as she walked through the village streets. The low afternoon sun had just started to throw long shadows along the dust paths. The loud bustle of noise that had startled her when Shikaku first led her to Konoha seemed less abrasive than it once had. Her mind cast back to Shikaku and his two teammates, the bond between the three of them was almost palpable.

They'd go through hell for each other.

There wasn't a doubt in her mind about that, because she felt exactly the same way about Hiro. The knowledge that it didn't matter what she had to endure, what she had to do - just to keep them safe. Her brow furrowed. There was something different between the Ino-Shika-Cho trio compared to her and Hiro. They were all incredible shinobi, capable of defending themselves should they need to – and yet they still looked out for each other.

Kosu looked up as she reached the Uzumaki mask storage temple. I'd have gone through hell for you too Mito-sensei. She smiled sadly. Kosu paused in her step as a wash of realisation flooded over her. Had they ever been in battle Mito's skills far exceeded her own, Mito had been more than capable of defending herself. And yet Kosu knew she wouldn't have hesitated in standing alongside her sensei and offering the support she could.

She sat down at their usual tea spot.

Maybe it's not always who you'd go through hell for… But who you'd go through hell with.

"I feel like you'd have approved who I'm on a team with sensei." Kosu whispered with a sad smile. "And I can't shake the feeling you probably had a hand in it."

X

"You can stop grinning any time now." Choza threw a look to Inoichi as he sat opposite him in the booth. After their meal and tactics session the three had said goodbye to Kosu and retreated back to the bar. Inoichi had made a point to gesture around them to the bartender that Kosu wasn't with them.

"I met the Deerstalker today. I'll be as happy as I want." He said.

"She was calmer than I imagined." Choza admitted. "Even in combat, I don't know. From the stories I expected someone more feral."

"Her training under Lady Mito was the best thing for her." Inoichi said.

"And she wouldn't have taught a fūinjutsu technique like that to just anyone." Shikaku leant forwards and laced his fingers under his chin. Lady Mito trusted her. "You said you saw her with Kushina?"

"Yeah, why?" Inoichi asked.

"I can see why the Hokage placed her with us and I wouldn't change the line-up. But I get the feeling this style of fūinjutsu is new to everyone and she's still testing the limits of what she can and can't do." He replied. "It wouldn't be the worst idea for her to talk to Kushina or Minato."

Before they could continue their conversation, Daiki bustled into the bar and slipped into their booth.

"Sakumo's not with you?" Choza asked.

"He said he can't come." Daiki dismissed with a wave of his hand. "I need to talk to you about Kosu." Daiki's fierce gaze locked with Inoichi. "I know the Hokage graduated him without my approval. But I need to know who the jonin leader is for his genin squad. You're the biggest gossip there is Inoichi. I need you to tell me."

Inoichi's previously gleeful expression dropped.

"She isn't on a jonin lead genin squad. She's replacing me on team Ino-Shika-Cho." He said slowly and clearly. He watched as Daiki's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Kosu's a…?" He shook his head to remind himself Kosu's gender wasn't the main issue. "What do you mean he – she – is replacing you? A genin can't be placed with two jonin. Kosu's not ready for the level of missions you go on."

"Yes, she is." Shikaku fixed the chunin with a hard stare.

"Daiki, I get this kid means a lot to you. But you're too close to see that what you think she is, isn't what she is." Inoichi said.

"I've spent more time with Kosu than any of you. I'm her sensei. I know what's best for her."

"Come and watch us train tomorrow." Inoichi suggested. "And I mean, really watch her and see her for who she is."

Daiki opened his mouth but snapped it shut and stormed from the bar. Ino-Shika-Cho sighed in unison and downed the sake in their cups.

"Well that went as well as expected." Inoichi refilled each of their glasses.

X

So chapter 15 and officially the longest chapter I've written for this story.

Huge thank you to everyone who favourited, followed, reviewed, or DM's. It means so much and I can't believe just how many are getting behind this fic!

I had so much fun writing the combat scenes for Kosu, I've been dying to write them since I first planned out her ability. I know a few of you in the reviews were hoping to see Kosu show off a little bit. Our little orphan has been training so hard! It's about time her skills started to reflect that.

So RE: reviews for Chapter 14

Looks of you are starting to question just how much another fūinjutsu user in Konoha will alter canon events. I've gone through and have been very selective in what's getting altered and what's staying the same and what's being tweaked. There are lots of canon events that I think are essential for key character arcs and I want to respect that.

So much respect for Mito (RIP you lovely woman) she had to get a mention. She wasn't explored much in the anime and I really wanted to bring her to life in this fic. She's been a massive influence in Kosu's character and will continue to be.

Annnd Kakashi and Kosu – lots of you talking about our little pair! I'm glad Kakashi's reaction read fluently in the fic. When you look at the canon, he literally does a 180 in personality around this time due to the events of his father, and writing that has/is going to be a challenge. I love it though :D

No Kakashi in this chapter, but don't worry are little pair will meet again soon.

There were some predictions about Kosu's shinobi squad and as far as I'm aware no one quite predicted this scenario! Kosu-Shika-Cho people!

And finally, lots of talk about Minato and Kushina appearing more and considering the shared fūinjutsu skill, and shared sensei in the case of Kosu and Kushina – I'd say this is pretty likely ;D

As always, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in chapter 16

XScouselondonerX