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Chapter 8: Reservations, Demonstrations and Explanations

A concerned Whisper paced back and forth in the small waiting room before Tsunade's office, her nerves refusing to settle. Ever since she had gotten the message from Kurenai that the Hokage wanted to talk to her about Kroqgar, she had been unable to stop her mind from wandering to one terrible conclusion to the next. When she arrived at the Hokage Mansion, Whisper immediately accosted Shizune, almost begging the older kunoichi to tell her what was going on, but the Hokage's assistant was adamant, refusing to reveal even the smallest detail. Finally, Whisper raised her sparkling emerald eyes to gaze out the small window, standing stock still.

Some time later, Tsunade's voice carried through from her office, "Shizune, you can send her in!" The raven haired medic turned to relay the news to the surprisingly calm and patient genin, to find that Whisper had already crossed the room and was wrenching the door open.

She rushed in to the office to find a slightly amused Tsunade sitting behind her desk and a smiling Kroqgar standing next to the chair sitting in front of it. Before either could get a word out, she launched herself at Kroqgar, throwing her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. Kroqgar wrapped his arms around her reassuringly, and Whisper buried her face in his chest. Tsunade smiled slightly, even averting her eyes, willing to let the two have their moment. They recaptured her attention however, with a sudden movement and a muffled cry of "Oof!"

She returned her gaze to the genin to find a fuming Whisper with one fist buried in Kroqgar's gut, the taller ninja somewhat bent over by the force of the blow. "Don't ever scare me like that again", growled Whisper, even as she held on to him more tightly.

"If your gonna hit me that hard next time then deal."

"Okay," interrupted Tsunade, drawing the focus of the genin, "I hate to have to break this up but we've got a few things to go through." Slowly, Whisper and Kroqgar disengaged, leaving only their hands clasped. Whisper exhaled a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as she squeezed Kroqgar's hand, and smiled softly when he squeezed back.

Tsunade leaned forward to rest her chin on her interlaced hands. "Whisper, I imagine you are quite curious as to why I've called you here, especially so since it is about Kroqgar." The Hokage's eyes slid from one figure to the other.

"Yes, very much so Lady Hokage."

Tsunade was silent for a moment. "Kroqgar is here because earlier today we thought he killed Kakashi."

Whisper's eyes grew wide and she drew in a sharp breath. Her gaze snapped to Kroqgar, and he met it with a somewhat embarrassed smile, as he recalled the day's earlier events.

...

Kroqgar suddenly awoke to the face of none other than Inoichi Yamanaka, a member of the Konoha Interrogation Unit. The jounin's hand was resting on his shoulder. Apparently he had just been shaken awake. He shook his head for a moment, and realised he was sitting on a hard, metal chair.

The mind reader spoke. "He's awake, Lady Hokage."

"Good."

Kroqgar turned his head to find Tsunade leaning against one of the walls of the room, her arms folded in front of her. He finally realised just where he was, in a small, featureless, black room, with only one light suspended from the ceiling above him. A quick glance confirmed his suspicions: two ANBU stood guard behind him.

"Alright Kroqgar, here's what's going to happen." Inoichi demanded his attention once more. "We are going to ask you a few questions, and all you have to do is answer truthfully." The jounin placed his hand on Kroqgar's forehead. The genin considered it wise to not move at the moment.

"I am going to know if you even think about lying, and if you attempt to fight against me in any way, it will be taken as a sign of your duplicity and we will react accordingly." Kroqgar looked into Inoichi's eyes and saw no sign of anger or malice, merely caution and resolve. "I am sure you are currently quite confused as to why you are even here, correct?"

Kroqgar nodded once, saying "Yes, Completely!" As he did so, he felt something akin to a shadow pass over his thoughts. It didn't hinder his thinking in any way, merely loomed over it, covering all. Inoichi, his mouth set into a firm line, nodded.

"Good. I am currently repressing some of your most recent memories, the ones that pertain to why exactly you are here." Kroqgar began to panic. Oh God, what had he done?!

"We thought it wise to do so, so that you were unable to think them over, so that when we question you we get the first, unadulterated answer that comes to your mind. And believe me," said Inoichi, grinning slightly for the first time, "I might know what it is before you do."

Kroqgar did his best to try and clear his mind to give the older shinobi complete access to his thoughts, not the easiest thing to do when he was panicking. "Normally," continued Inoichi, "I would simply delve into your memories and uncover all the information I needed, however Lady Hokage has forbade me from doing so." Kroqgar's gaze slid to a blank Tsunade, her face and poise giving no indication as to how he stood with her. However, given that she had prevented them from gaining all the secrets that he and Whisper knew of their world, he took this latest turn as a positive sign.

"Anyway..." Kroqgar looked back to the jounin. "I'm now going to unleash your memories. Lady Tsunade, care to do the honours?" The Hokage stood straight and nodded at Inoichi. The pressure of the Yamanaka's hand on Kroqgar's forehead increased infinitesimally for a moment before what felt like an electric shock jolted his brain, making him flinch at the unexpected sting. Images and sounds assailed his brain, surprisingly similar to when he received his insights into the abilities of a shinobi. Up until this point, he had remembered the start if his spar with Kakashi, but little else. Now he recalled the day in its entirety, from seeming to trounce the elite jounin, to being shown how superior the Copycat Ninja was, to... His eyes widened. He gasped.

Inoichi nodded once. "He's ready."

Tsunade stepped closer to Kroqgar and looked him in the eyes. "Did you intend to harm Kakashi?"

Kroqgar responded instantly, "No!", before realising how foolish that was. "Well, I mean, yes, we were sparring, so... Yes, I guess I did."

Tsunade looked to Inoichi. Konoha's top mind reader, eyes closed, nodded.

"Did you intend to kill Kakashi?"

"NO!" This time his answer was instant and obvious. "Absolutely not! I know he said to aim to kill him, but even if I was able to, which I don't think I am, I wouldn't even consider it!"

Once more, Tsunade looked to Inoichi. She was surprised to find him standing there with a slightly amazed look on his face, eyes open in mild disbelief.

"Truthful," he said. "_Very _truthful."

Tsunade's eyebrows raised, mirroring Inoichi's amazement. Like him, she knew that there were levels and layers of the mind, and that the concept of "true" or "false" was somewhat fluid, as a question part of the mind could answer positively, others answered negatively. The trick to it was recognizing which part of the mind was likely to have the most correct answer, which simply came with time and experience. However for Inoichi to respond as he had, Tsunade knew that Kroqgar's answer must have rung true with every part of his mind. At that point she determined that whatever else drove him, the young shinobi did not mean to harm Konoha.

"Alright...," she continued, "What do you remember?"

Kroqgar's brow furrowed as he replayed the events in his head. "I remember being-" A smile crept on to his face. "-introduced to Naruto and Sakura. Then Kakashi-sensei and I started sparring. I seemed to be winning at first, but I think that was only because I surprised him. He started wearing me down... I tried to get the drop on him, but he saw right through me... The last thing I remember is that everything was white, and my body moved on its own."

Tsunade once more got an affirmative from Inoichi, then turned to look behind him, at one of the ANBU he guessed. Whatever she saw there seemed to satisfy her.

"Last question. Do you remember..." She seemed to pause, choosing her words. "Gaining any new knowledge recently?" The emphasis she placed on the two words made it quite clear to Kroqgar that she was referring to the insights he and Whisper continuously received. Puzzled at her meaning, he went to answer in the negative, before a familiar flash passed across his vision. His vision whited out for a moment, but for once he retained enough presence of mind to be aware of his surroundings, enabling him to hear the pained grunt that came from Inoichi and the sudden removal of the hand on his forehead, not to mention the smallest of rustles from behind him. When his mind cleared, he felt that the shadow of Inoichi's presence was gone.

His vision slowly returned, revealing a somewhat irritated Inoichi shaking his hand back and forth. Gazing downward, he was rewarded with his own visage, reflected in the blade that was being held across his throat. The outstretched hand of Tsunade was likely the only thing that had halted the ANBU in causing his own swift demise.

"Inoichi, what happened?"

The mind reader looked baffled. "I honestly don't know Lady Hokage. It felt like something just struck my hand like a hammer. One moment I was in his mind, then the next, I simply wasn't. There was no struggle, I was just blasted out."

Tsunade regarded Kroqgar for a moment. "Kroqgar, is this new knowledge something you feel like sharing at the moment?"

The answer was obvious. "No, not right now Lady Tsunade." He couldn't take the risk with other people in the room. Tsunade nodded her understanding.

"Very well. ANBU, please remove your blade. Kroqgar will accompany me back to my office; he is cleared of all charges. All of what transpired here is an S-Rank secret, understood?"

The three other ninja straightened, saying in chorus, "Yes Lady Hokage!"

"Good. Dismissed."

...

"Kroqgar and I have merely been discussing exactly what his new abilities are. And I must say, I'm quite anxious to discover whether you have gained the same power."

"Power?" asked a puzzled Whisper. Tsunade nodded to Kroqgar.

The larger genin held out his hand, palm up. Just above his palm a small golden orb suddenly burst into existence. It gave off a slight warmth, bathing them all in golden light. Whisper, eyes wide, leant forwards to examine it, reaching out with her hand as she did so. She stopped just short, before turning to Tsunade.

"What is it?"

"If I'm right", said the Hokage, gazing at the orb with some wonder herself, "And Kroqgar seems to think that I am, it's called ki."

They both noticed the shadow pass over Whisper's eyes. When her attention was once more focused on Kroqgar, he grinned at her as he closed his fist, dousing the sphere of ki. "Let me guess... You know all about it?"

She grinned right back. "Yep."

"We thought this might happen." Both of the genin once more turned their attention to Tsunade. "Since so far both of you have gained the same knowledge almost simultaneously, with the exception of your new weapons, we figured that if one of you saw the other had gained an insight they had not, it would be unlocked for you. It seems we were correct."

"Ok," said Whisper, wrapping her mind around the concept. "Then how come I didn't gain the knowledge the normal way, like Kroq did?"

Tsunade mentally nodded. The girl was sharp, she would make a fine shinobi. "That's where your wrong: Kroqgar didn't gain the knowledge the normal way."

The female genin blinked in surprise. "Then how did he unlock it?"

"It's purely a theory at this point, but we think if you perceive at some level that you are in a life-threatening situation with no way out, knowledge that would be unlocked for you in time is immediately granted, as well as applied subconsciously."

"That explains why it felt like my body was moving on its own, even though I was pretty much out of it after Kakashi's hit," said Kroqgar, rubbing at a point on his jaw that, if not for Tsunade's legendary healing prowess, would now be sporting quite a bruise. "I gained the ability to use ki, but my mind knew that I didn't have the time to go through the usual spacing out, so we think my subconscious took control of my body to "save my life"."

"Anyway, that's enough explaining for now," said Tsunade, rising from her desk. "Whisper, try and summon a ki sphere of your own."

The genin raised her hand, and but a moment later a golden sphere floated there. Her smile easily outshone it. Tsunade nodded in approval, while Kroqgar just smiled right back at her.

"Alright," said the Hokage, donning her jacket, "We'll go and see Kakashi in the hospital. Don't worry," she replied to their stunned faces, "He's completely fine, I just want him to rest up a little. There was much less damage than there looked. First, however, we are going to go and see just how powerful your new abilities are."

Pausing only to retrieve something from her desk drawer and place it in her jacket, Tsunade walked to the door, motioning for the two of them to follow her. Whisper closed her fist, cancelling the ki orb and feeling the small glow of energy rush back in to her system, before rising and heading out with Kroqgar.

...

Jiraiya grumbled under his breath, even though there was no one around this far out from the village. Here he was, trying to enjoy an all too rare holiday, when suddenly he was accosted by a small slug, demanding that he get to work lest all the bath houses in the city be shut down for a week, by order of the Hokage.

The older man leaned back against a tree from his position on the earth, long since finished with his task. He had no idea why Tsunade would want this particular clearing in the forest laced with privacy and containment seals, nor why she needed him to wait there for her when she was perfectly capable of activating the seals herself, but her threat was more than enough to make him wait for a few minutes.

The Toad Sage was just beginning to consider tamping some tobacco into his pipe when his former team mate arrived, along with Shizune and those two intriguing genin from earlier, Kroqgar and Whisper. He rose to his feet, his curiousity piqued. This could be interesting.

...

"Alright Kroqgar, since your fight was much less chakra intensive than Whisper's, we'll get you to demonstrate exactly what you two are capable of now."

Kroqgar raised a brow at Tsunade. "What's chakra got to do with it?"

The kunoichi grinned slightly, saying "I'll tell you afterwards, I don't want to ruin the surprise for Jiraiya."

"You mean they're just gonna show off a new jutsu?" Jiraiya sighed in disapointment. "Boooriiing.."

Tsunade laughed at her former team-mate. "Just get ready you old toad, I think you'll be surprised. Now, you made the seals like I requested?"

"Yes I made the seals like you requested," Jiraiya responded, the last word dripping with sarcasm. "Things can pass through from the inside, but not come in from the outside."

"Including jutsu?"

"Including jutsu."

"Ok!" Tsunade clapped her hands together. "Kroqgar, fire when you are ready! Your target is..." her gaze wandered for a moment, before alighting on a boulder at the far side of the clearing. "That rock!"

"Actually, Lady Tsunade," Kroqgar replied, somewhat hesistantly, "I think a different target might be better."

She quirked a brow at him. "Oh?"

"Yeah. You see, where I know of these abilities from, they are powerful enough to destroy entire planets. I don't think I'll get anywhere near that level of intensity, but... I'd rather not take the risk", he finished with a chuckle.

Tsunade nodded. "Fair enough. What did you have in mind?"

Kroqgar raised his arm, pointing at a nearby mountain. Tsunade nodded her approval, saying "Alright, no one lives on that mountain or between it and here, so that should be fine. Go when you are ready."

Jiraiya edged from his position at the side of Kroqgar to a spot more behind the genin, not wanting to take even the slightest risk of catching the backlash from a technique capable of destroying a planet. The prospect was laughable, but he'd lived a long time and seen some strange things. He believed that anything was possible.

Kroqgar took a deep breath, before crouching slightly and cupping his hands behind his back, wrists together, palms out. All heads (aside from Kroqgar's) turned at the sound of flesh striking flesh, to see Whisper with her palm to her forehead. Shizune nudged the younger kunoichi, asking 'What's up?"

The genin sighed. "I know exactly what he's gonna do."

"Kaaaa...."

All eyes flicked to Kroqgar.

"Meeeee..."

"Turtle?" said Jiraiya, confused. He turned to Tsunade. "Is this a new summoning jutsu?" She shushed him, continuing to watch Kroqgar.

"Haaaa.... Meeeee...."

"Destructive!" continued the Toad Sage. "This is getting interesti-". He cut off as a bright blue ball suddenly appeared between Kroqgar hands, quickly growing to fill his grip. His eyes widened as he realised what it was. "No..."

"HAAAAAAA!!!"

Kroqgar thrust his hands forward as he yelled, aiming at the peak of the mount. Whisper had the distinct pleasure of watching Jiraiya, Shizune and Tsunade's jaws drop as they watched Kroqgar launch a beam of what looked like solid blue light from his hands, almost-but-not-quite bright enough to force them to look away. The head of the blast raced towards the mountain, moving incredibly swiftly, fast enough that both sannin knew they could not outpace it.

The attack collided with the mountain in a blinding explosion of light, a dull boom followed by a deep rumble sounding moments later. Before the stunned shinobi's eyes, the energy shockwave of Kroqgar's attack grew and grew, expanding beyond the original zone of impact. Kroqgar, breathing heavily, slowly lowered his arms and looked towards the stunned Sannin as the light from the blast faded. The sight of two such heavily experienced ninjas gaping unashamedly at his handiwork caused him to break into a grin.

The distant sound of the upper portion of the mountain collapsing progressed the grin into a full blown laugh. Kroqgar turned to witness rock and gravel collapsing into the huge crater left by the Kamehameha, the hole easily big enough to swallow up the entirety of the Konoha Stadium. As the dust settled, the mighty stone monolith was left looking somewhat like a child's destroyed sandcastle. Kroqgar was still laughing as, without warning, he suddenly collapsed onto his hands and knees, barely stopping himself from continuing on to the ground.

The assembled shinobi rushed to his side, none faster than Whisper. As she and Shizune aided him in rising, he managed a tired smile. "I think I overdid it."

...

Some time later, the five ninja could be found in the hospital, gathered around the bed of one Kakashi Hatake, along with a somewhat bewildered Kurenai, her curiosity as to the situation and her student's abrupt summons earlier in the day clear. As Kakashi, Kroqgar and Tsunade began to go over the events of the day, Whisper broke away from them to speak with her.

"Hey, Kurenai-sensei! What are you doing here?"

"Hey Whisper," replied the jounin, smiling at her newest student, "Lady Tsunade asked me to come here and wait for you. What was the problem earlier?"

"Uhhh... I think I'll leave that one to Lady Tsunade," said Whisper, as the older kunoichi beckoned the pair of them over. Kroqgar and Kakashi seemed to have gotten over that whole awkward "sorry I nearly killed you" conversation, so the Hokage got right to business.

"Alright, Kakashi, Kurenai, you two know all about how Whisper and Kroqgar are sometimes granted additional knowledge and abilities." The two sensei's grinned slightly as they recalled the unexpected and sudden fighting prowess of their newest students. "It would seem that Kroqgar inadvertently gained yet another ability, which he was then able to awaken in Whisper. Kroqgar?" The genin was still weak, but feeling much better than he had been, thanks to a chakra transfer jutsu on Tsunade's part. He was more than capable of summoning a familiar golden sphere above his hand. Only Jiraiya noticed Kakashi flinch slightly. "It is known as ki."

Both of the jounin blinked in confusion. Kurenai asked, "But Lady Hokage, I thought it was impossible to use ki unless you use it for chakra?"

Tsunade sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Without a word, she waved Jiraiya forward. The sannin stood from his position leaning against the wall, and faced the assembled.

"You all know that chakra is created by mixing one's physical energy with one's spiritual energy, or ki, also known as your life force. People who can use pure ki are incredibly rare, in fact to the best of my knowledge there is currently no one else alive save for these two," he indicated Kroqgar and Whisper with a nod of his head, "who can."

Kakashi, for once, was absolutely stumped. "Why's that?"

"Over time, the secrets of using pure ki were lost," replied Jiraiya, nodding sagely. "Eventually, it simply fell out of use. Furthermore, using pure ki was heavily discouraged, due to the fact that using one's life force to power an ability is widely considered not worth the risk. Considering how much life force a person should have, I know that this guy," continued Jiraiya, pointing at Kroqgar, "should be dead, or at least in far worse health than he is, after seeing what he did earlier today. Somehow, Kroqgar and presumably Whisper have gained additional reserves of ki beyond those that are needed to keep them alive, which they are able to tap into at will."

"Ah, so that's how chakra is involved." When everyone looked at her, Whisper continued, "Well, Lady Tsunade got Kroqgar to demonstrate the power of our ki-based abilities earlier today over me, due to the fact that his fight with Kakashi-sensei was less chakra intensive than mine with Kurenai-sensei."

"You can say that again..." muttered the Genjutsu Mistress.

Whisper smiled. "I was wondering why that was so, but I guess I know now. Since chakra requires ki to be created, and since we seem to have an over-abundance of ki, I guess we are limited by our physical energy at the moment. Plus, this means we don't have separate reserves of power inside of us, considering that both energies require ki."

After Whisper's explanation, Kakashi looked to Jiraiya. He knew the other ninja was stealthy, but even considering that he was a sannin, good enough to evade his notice? Kakashi was by no means arrogant, but he knew his own formidable skills. "You saw him get me with the ki sphere?"

To his surprise, the large man burst out laughing. "You mean that little love tap? Heh, you got off easy Kakashi, you have no idea."

"Ok then, enlighten me."

"Hmmmm..." Jiraiya tapped his finger on his chin theatrically. "Ok then. You know Mount Toukai, outside the village?"

Both jounin nodded in the affirmative. "What of it?" asked Kurenai.

The sannin grinned like the idiot he so often acted like. "It's now Mount Tou, Kroqgar blew the "kai" part away."

The implications of this statement took a moment to sink in.

Kurenai spoke up first. "So... Your saying that this genin was able to destroy half a mountain with a single technique?" The jounin's respect for the sannin was clearly warring with her disbelief.

Tsunade took no umbrage at her skepticism, however. "Firstly, I think we should remember that, given the circumstances, Kroqgar and Whisper's rank is more a matter of protocol than anything else. Secondly, he didn't blow half a mountain away, this fool is exaggerating." Jiraiya grinned.

"Alright then," said Kakashi, "How powerful is it?"

"Well, the..." Tsunade looked to Kroqgar. "What was it again?"

"The Kamehameha," explained Kroqgar. "Its named after its creator, a man called "The Turtle Hermit", in a book I once read, the same book that pretty much gave me and Whisper all the knowledge of ki we have. Simple, but powerful."

"The Kamehameha," continued Tsunade, "I'd say is a borderline A-rank, S-rank technique, depending on how much energy Kroqgar puts into it. If he went all out at his peak, and I mean he'd have to be hospitalised afterwards due to exhaustion... Then yes, I'd say blowing up half the mountain would definitely have been possible."

The two jounin senseis shared a stunned silence. After a moment, Kurenai turned to Kakashi and said, "You were hit by one of these techniques?!"

The former ANBU Captain laughed drily. "I almost wish I had been. Would've hurt a lot less."

"Kroqgar hit Kakashi with a lesser form of attack, a ki sphere," explained Whisper, summoning one above her own hand. "More advanced than the Kamehameha, but more difficult to control and less powerful."

"Actually, I have to correct you there Whisper."

All heads turned to Tsunade, to see the Hokage standing there with a slight smirk on her face. Only Shizune knew what she was up to, the younger kunoichi heaving a sigh.

"Had Kroqgar actually hit you with the ki attack, Kakashi, you would be in much, much worse shape than you are now. In fact, you'd probably be off your feet for up to a few weeks. Thankfully, you were only hit by the splashback of the attack that was blocked by an old friend of yours."

Even someone like Kakashi can have their memory somewhat befuddled by a minor explosion. "Who?" he asked, baffled.

...

Outside the hospital, Kiba Inuzuka was taking one of his clans newest nindogs for a walk, the small puppy walking beside the larger Akamaru, occasionally wuffing at something the senior dog barked. A loud yell caused Kiba to start in surprise, Akamaru to twitch his ears, and so frightened the little puppy that it ran to Kiba for reassurance.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Picking up the nin-puppy, and with an affirmative yip from Akamaru letting him ride in his jacket, Kiba turned towards the hospital and muttered, "Yeesh, sounds like that guy's getting neutered..."

...

Kakashi cradled the thing Tsunade had given him in his arms like a baby. The sannin herself was simply laughing at his predicament, earning her an annoyed glare from her former team mate.

Once her mirth subsided somewhat, Tsunade said in an amused tone "You know, you've never been luckier to be a pervert, Kakashi."

The Copy Ninja, staring at the orange book in his hand with a charred hole burnt right through the center, could only nod glumly.

"Well, we know how Kroqgar and Kakashi went. Kurenai?" The jounin looked to the Hokage as she was addressed. "Now you know why I had to call Whisper away. How did she go before that?"

"Very well, Lady Hokage," she replied with a nod. "Honestly, she had me on the ropes for a little there. Some of her jutsu were quite powerful, in fact she pulled off a couple I've never seen before. I've been dying to know exactly how she did one of them though." The Genjutsu Mistress eyed her genin student curiously.

Whisper laughed softly at the look. "The Exploding Water Shockwave Jutsu?"

"That's the one." Kurenai noticed the questioning looks on the face of the other shinobi in the room. "During our spar, Whisper used a powerful form of that jutsu against me. I thought I'd avoided it, and focused on her next attack, but it changed direction, and I barely avoided getting hit by both techniques. How did you manipulate your jutsu after you'd released it?"

"I didn't really manipulate the jutsu, per se," explained Whisper, "I simply used another jutsu in conjunction with it."

"Which jutsu?" asked her sensei curiously.

Whisper smiled. "The Windwall Jutsu."

After a moment of contemplation, Kurenai responded, "Never heard of it."

"I know it's not medical, I can tell you that."

"In my expert opinion, it's probably no good for doing any sort of research, either."

Even Kakashi came up with nothing. "Sorry, never heard of it before."

Whisper and Kroqgar smiled broadly. "You wouldn't have," answered the larger genin, "Me and Whisper made it up back in our world."

As the Hokage, and as such, the supreme military commander of Konoha and its forces, Tsunade felt she needed to know what this technique was and how it works. She said as much.

Whisper nodded her agreement and went on to explain the jutsu. "Essentially, it simply creates a wall made out of wind, of whatever size I want, wherever I want, of whatever strength I want, depending on how much chakra I put into it. The jutsu simply solidifies the air in a certain spot, depending on what direction the impact is going to come from. So, for example..." She lashed out with her first in front of her. "If I was going to block that punch with the Windwall jutsu, I'd really only be creating a very strong gust of air the same size as my first, moving in the exact opposite direction, with the exact same amount of force, localised entirely at the point where I wanted my fist to stop. If I put extra force into it, I could even blow my hand back into my body, or even simply blow it apart."

Jiraiya nodded, his eyes narrowed in thought. "That's a very versatile jutsu."

Whisper grinned. "You don't know the half of it. Without redoing the handseals, you can continually make more windwalls. Allow me to show you my favourite use so far." With a smile on her face, Whisper flashed through a series of handseals, before intoning, "Wind Style: Windwall Jutsu!" Holding a one handed seal, she stepped forward, and... up. She seemed to push off an invisible step in mid-air, before falling a foot or so to both feet again.

Walking over to the window and throwing it wide, still holding the one handed seal, she explained, "There is a time limit as to how long one can go between performing all the hand seals, and summoning another windwall, however this is extended by summoning other windwalls. You can pretty much keep creating them after the original seals until your chakra runs out. But the best part about them is..."

Whisper leapt out of the window, and all those in the room (save for Kakashi who had his nose buried in a shiny new orange book that Jiraiya had surreptiously handed him) rushed over to find her leaping from one foot to the next in mid-air, rising several feet each time, and thrusting the one handed seal forward slightly each time she pushed off again.

"Using this jutsu, you can pretty much run around the sky."

Whisper leaped over the heads of those present and, executing a quick flip, landed perfectly. "Each time you create a new wall, you simply have to reinforce the last seal. Though depending on how chakra intensive it is, you might also have to say "Kabe" each time."

"That is actually one of the more clever jutsu I've encountered," said Tsunade, a smile creeping its way over her features. "You two have surprised me again. So long as you don't mind sharing that jutsu with others, if you could write it down on a scroll I can have copies drawn up in an hour."

The genin shared a look, then nodded. "Just give us a week to try it out," intoned Kroqgar. Whisper nodded in agreement.

Tsunade mirrored her action. "Excellent! I can think of a few shinobi right now who could find some great uses for that. Anyway." She turned towards the two senseis. "I never asked... What level do you think they are at? I've got my own assumptions, but you two have seen a wider variety of their skills than I have. What are their specialties?"

Kakashi answered first. "I'd say that Kroqgar's biggest strength is his... Well, strength, right now, aside from his ki abilities, of course. He may not be as strong as you, Lady Tsunade, but at full power I'm not sure I could block one of his hits. He thinks on his feet too, he did a trick with tree climbing and the substitution jutsu I've never seen before. Overall... Good basics, specialised techniques, smart, resourceful and willing to learn."

Kroqgar blushed slightly at the praise, wishing more than ever for his concealing black fur.

"A good student, and I think a good shinobi. I'd put him at about... mid to high chunin, minimum. I didn't really see any jutsu, and with his ki-based moves as well, it's difficult to place him exactly. Although, I'd say that low jounin would be his maximum. And that's power, not threat level."

Jiraiya noticed the confused looks pass over Kroqgar and Whisper's visages. "Your power level is simply a conclusion based on all your individual skills. Your threat level is those skills as a whole, and how you use them. For example, someone could be chunin level in power, but be a jounin level threat due to a different factor, perhaps how smart they are."

Kakashi nodded. "Right now, you'd probably be low to mid chunin level, threat-wise. And really, that's only because you've been shinobi for what, a day? Whereas, for example..." Kakashi only just concealed his smirk. "...Lady Hokage has been a ninja for, oh, forty five years? Forty six?"

Before Tsunade gave Kakashi the chance to feel the same way as his former book, Shizune intervened, quickly asking, "And Kurenai? What about Whisper?"

The Genjutsu Mistress stated with a smile that, somewhat unsurprisingly, Whisper was very close to Kroqgar in terms of skill. "Though where he might exceed in terms of strength, I think that Whisper has most of us cornered on speed." Her unusual eyes slid to the sannin. "Lady Tsunade, Master Jiraiya, you two could likely outpace her, simply because... Well, your sannin. Short of opening the chakra gates, I don't think any of us..." She indicated herself, Kakashi and Shizune. "...Would stand a chance in catching her."

"I think Whisper is also less of a reactionary fighter than Kroqgar, from what I've heard." The jounin nodded to herself, thinking. "She had always planned a few steps ahead, and I had to be pretty crafty to evade her at some points. Plus, she used her jutsu very effectively. Perhaps towards the end, she might have gone a bit overboard, but I was wearing her down by that point, so I can appreciate her tactics to throw me off guard." She laughed softly. "Worked pretty well, too."

"So where do you think she stands?" asked the Hokage.

"I'd say she's about as talented as Kroqgar right now, skills wise. As a threat though, I'd say that to compare their skills, they have to be in different situations. For example, I think that Whisper would be more dangerous were she to be the aggressor in an exchange, however Kroqgar would be superior at defense. Given time to plan, Whisper is the greater threat, however when surprised, I think that Kroqgar would be the more formidable."

Kroqgar and Whisper caught eyes from across the room, and grinned widely. Both were clearly wondering how they would fare in combat against the other.

Tsunade nodded, trusting the judgement of the two jounin. "So, the last order of business for the day. Kakashi."

At her tone, the jounin instantly closed his book (he knew which page he was on off by heart anyway) and faced her. She sounded very serious, and he knew why. He didn't need the sharingan to note the smallest hint of concern in her eyes.

"Do you think we can tell Naruto?"

The Copy Ninja considered this very carefully. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders, and stated truthfully, "I honestly don't know. I was hoping to sit my team down for a talk after my fight with Kroqgar, but I suppose he had other ideas." The jounin's eye-smile contained only good humour, showing he did not blame Kroqgar for the situation. "I was going to base my judgement on whether Naruto was ready on how he reacted to Kroqgar then." His smile seemed to grow wider. "I suppose I'll just have to decide after seeing how they interact when I take them out for dinner tonight."

...

Naruto and Sakura were wary of Kroqgar as he approached them alongside Kakashi, but the older ninja put them at ease, saying his injury was simply the result of getting careless, and that Kroqgar had fought well. Seeing his students both begin to grin knowingly at him, he immediately amended "But I only did so as a lesson to you two, to make sure you always stay on your guard! Honestly, the things a sensei does for his students..." Kakashi was a master of both hiding and saving face.

Naruto and Sakura relaxed visibly around their newest team mate, now that their fears had been put to rest. Still, the somewhat more intelligent Sakura was skeptical. "If everything was fine then why did the ANBU immediately arrest Kroqgar?"

The genin himself answered the question. "I used a forbidden jutsu", he said simply. "I guess your ANBU really take that seriously around here."

Sakura seemed appeased, but Naruto lit up at the thought of learning a powerful new technique.

"Which jutsu was it? Can you teach it to me? How does it work?"

Kroqgar waved off his questions with both a hand and a laugh. "I'd like to Naruto, but, like I said, it's forbidden."

An infinitesimal inclination of Kakashi's head showed his approval of Kroqgar's fabrication. Naruto seemed about to press the matter, but luckily Kakashi had what he liked to call "Naruto-bait".

"Here we are team, Ichiraku's Ramen Bar!"

...

Almost an hour later, Kakashi paid the group's bill, politely declining offers by the others to pay for their own share (though he was sorely tempted to allow Naruto to pay his own way, the genin having eaten more than the rest of them combined). Over the course of the dinner, the sensei of Team 7 had come across a rather pleasant surprise.

Kroqgar was a surprisingly good kind of guy.

True, Kakashi had already known as much from their earlier meetings, but just sitting down and quietly eating dinner with the younger man gave Kakashi a new respect for him. Though he enjoyed spending time with his students, teaching them and helping them become better shinobi, they were just children. Less than half his age. And even though two of them had led lives one wouldn't call particularly enchanted, all three of them were... Well, were very immature. Growing less so every day, almost astoundingly so, admitted the Copy Ninja, but still, just children.

Though only a few years their senior, Kroqgar behaved older than some jounin Kakashi knew. No doubt some of that could be attributed to just a few additional birthdays, but Kakashi liked to think that the vast majority of Kroqgar's maturity stemmed from his previous life, which even Kakashi could admit must have been horrific. Naruto's still took the cake, but more and more Kroqgar and Whisper were coming up a close second.

Odd as it was, Kakashi felt he could relate to Kroqgar. Felt he could share a more adult joke, discuss a more mature topic. He looked forward to experiencing that with his other students, but for now, it was good to have someone to talk to around. Even a jounin can get bored.

Now, as the four of them were walking in the same general direction that would take them each home, the jounin wrestled with a difficult question. Hands in his pockets, eyes lowered, brow slightly furrowed, Kakashi tried to decide whether Naruto was ready to learn about Kroqgar, about Whisper, about... About all of them.

He kept walking, listening with half an ear to the conversation of his students. Did Naruto even need to know? He barely let the notion cross his mind however, before dismissing it with a barely noticeable shake of his head. The boy had a right to know. This concerned all of them, but none more so than Naruto. Kakashi was practical enough to admit that he was far more mature than Naruto when he had been the genin's age, but he was not so old that he did not remember what it was like to be a borderline teenager. He would feel almost violated to have this secret kept from him, and his trust towards those who had kept it would take a severe blow.

No, thought Kakashi, sighing heavily, Naruto needed to know. But was he ready? Had he accepted Kroqgar? Could he handle it?

An insistent tugging on his sleeve brought the usually incredibly situationally aware shinobi back to his senses. Focussing back on the moment, he looked down to see a slightly embarrassed Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"What's up Sakura?"

The kunoichi pointed towards her teammates. "I've already hit Naruto more times than Lady Tsunade says I'm allowed to each week and I'm not sure I could hurt Kroqgar. Can you please stop them?"

Turning, Kakashi grinned underneath his mask. Kroqgar had Naruto in a headlock, rubbing at the much smaller boys scalp with a knuckle, saying "Naruto likes Ayame! Naruto likes Ayame!" (Naruto had been the only one brave (stupid?) enough to try Ayame's hastily created, brand new ramen recipe, the name of which the other three hadn't heard, so enraptured they were by the absurdly unpleasant appearance of the dish when Ayame had handed it over to Naruto).

Kakashi's grin widened into a full smile when, seconds later, all that could be seen of Kroqgar was a single, twitching arm, poking out of a pile of Narutos, all chorusing "Kroqgar likes Whisper! Kroqgar likes Whisper!"

...

They stood before the door for a moment, hands clasped together tightly. Neither of them said anything, both somewhat unnerved by the task before them. After a short while, the larger of the two pulled the smaller into its arms, holding it tightly. The two shared a kiss, brief but fierce, before breaking apart. Simultaneously, Kroqgar and Whisper reached out and knocked on the door.

The two genin had spent the last hour or so with Kaji, working on their new weaponry. The experienced weaponsmith had done everything from taking their measurements to getting samples of their chakra, and the whole process had been rather exhausting. However they had been assured that this was the hard part, at least for them. Now that Kaji had everything he needed to get to work, all he needed them for was certain integral parts of the forging that he needed more of their chakra for, as well as several other minor tasks. Jiraiya had been there, oddly quiet and relaxed for once, simply sitting at the back of the room smoking a pipe. Occasionally, the sannin had interjected with a question, but beyond that, he may as well have been absent. (Though as the two had left, they had noticed he had page after page of writing and diagrams, all of a completely non-pervy variety, arrayed around him. Idly, they had wondered whether or not he knew more about Lady Tsunade's note-taking jutsu than she thought.)

As they had walked back towards their apartment building, Whisper (resting her head on Kroqgar's shoulder) had told him about what she had done that day. Her team had met up again after all the excitement of the day, however Kurenai had almost immediately been called away again, her genjutsu skills apparently needed to assist with an interrogation. The somewhat exasperated jounin had dismissed her students, telling them they had the rest of the day off. Whisper, eager to get to know her new team-mates better, suggested they all go out for a late lunch.

Hinata, Kiba and Shino all steadily got over their wariness towards Whisper, and began to treat her as one of them. She felt a little out of place at times, being older than them at a stage where age matters so much, but Hinata and Shino were far more mature than their age might suggest, and Kiba... Well, he could be a little funny, and she could tell that he was a good person. Plus, Akamaru was adorable. Whilst petting the little puppy in her lap, Whisper had to hold back a laugh. "Cherish these moments Whisper, he's gonna get a lot bigger."

The four of them had ended up having a pretty good time, and Whisper knew she could now count each one of them as firm friends.

Kroqgar had then told Whisper that Kakashi had given them the O.K. to tell Naruto everything, and the disguised Vixen had immediately quietened. He continued softly, saying the jounin had doubled back after the four of them had separated, and had been with Naruto for a while now, subtly preparing him for the shock.

Now, as the door creaked open before them, they wondered whether or not they were ready. (They also both had a moment of "OhmygodI'minNaruto'sapartment!!")

"Finally!" Naruto stood before them, looking bored out of his mind. "Kakashi-sensei's been going on and on about you two getting here, he's been putting me to sleep!" The blonde stood aside to let them in, and the pair caught sight of Kakashi. The jounin flipped them a weary wave from his seat.

Naruto closed the door behind them, and followed them to his lounge area. There was just enough chairs to accommodate them all. A somewhat strained silence ensued, as a slightly nervous Naruto wondered what the three had to say to him, and the aforementioned three wondered how the hell to tell Naruto.

Finally, The Hidden Leaf's two newest shinobi shared a look, and squeezed each others hands briefly, before Kroqgar sighed heavily and collapsed into his seat. Somewhat more gracefully, Whisper lowered herself beside him.

"Naruto, you might want to sit down." Whisper spoke softly. She grinned almost sadly. "We've got a long story to tell you."

...

And so, Whisper and Kroqgar steadily told their story to Naruto and Kakashi, revealing more personal details than the version they had told the Hokage. Kakashi made no comment on the additions. They told Naruto of their earliest memories, of their lives, their fear, their loneliness, and, nearly bringing tears of joy to the eyes of the two genin, the look on Naruto's face was almost understanding.

Finally, they revealed their true appearances to him, and he promptly fell off his chair. Tentatively, he had asked if he could touch their hands and their faces, and they had obliged, eager to make this easier for him. Kroqgar even made an attempt at levity, growling deeply when Naruto had his hands close to his mouth, much to Kakashi's amusement.

They continued on to tell him about their entry in to Konoha, shocking the boy once more when he realised they were from a different world. He seemed unfazed when they corrected him and said they came from a different dimension, but they supposed that there wasn't much difference in this case, and that Naruto was probably too young to understand the concept anyway. They told him of how they had discovered they had the abilities of shinobi, as well as some other skills besides. They told him of how they had come across The Village Hidden In The Leaves, and how they had been allowed to see Tsunade and tell her their story.

Neither Kroqgar nor Whisper could really figure out how to go on from this point, and Kakashi, standing behind Naruto supportively, remained silent. Finally, the container of the Nine-Tailed Fox gave them the opening they needed.

"If you've come from an entirely different wor-dimension..." Naruto said, his brow furrowed in thought, "Then how do you know so much about Konoha and shinobi?"

The genin had much more trouble taking in this concept. They had to repeat themselves several times for him to even understand that, until recently, his entire existence was nothing but a few drawings and words to Kroqgar and Whisper. He ran a furious gambit of emotions, from anger to sadness, embarrassment to happiness.

Eventually, when all was said and done, the quartet simply sat in silence for over ten minutes. No one wanted to put any pressure on Naruto whatsoever. Both Kroqgar and Whisper were fully prepared for the possibility that he would reject them, want nothing to do with them, as others had done to him. Though they fervently desired otherwise, they would comply with his wishes if so. Naruto himself had done nothing but stare at a point on the floor with a frown on his face, his brow furrowed, hands clasped in front of him. Kakashi had made a placating gesture when Whisper had subtly glanced at him, indicating that nothing was wrong, Naruto was simply thinking.

After a tense eternity, the blonde's cerulean eyes slid to Kakashi and back to the floor so quickly even Kakashi almost missed it. The jounin understood the movement; Naruto was not making any signals, his train of thought had simply led him to Kakashi, and his eyes had reacted almost unconsciously.

He knew what to do, however. "Well," he began, unfurling himself from a chair, "I think that's enough for one night." All eyes turned to look at him. "Kroqgar, Whisper, you two had better get to bed, I'm sure you'll both need the rest after today. I think I'll stay here for a little while, all this talking has made me hungry and I feel like some ramen."

The elder genin clued on immediately; Kakashi was giving Naruto a chance to talk to him privately. They stood, transforming back in to their human guises.

"Naruto, if you need us, we'll be right next door, ok?" said Whisper, smiling encouragingly at him.

"Our door will always be open for you", added Kroqgar.

Naruto nodded absently in reply, gazing at them curiously. "Ok," he said finally, "Goodnight."

...

Kroqgar and Whisper lay in their bed, each holding on to the other tightly. Naruto's lack of hostility and courteous farewell were good signs, but both of them were still terribly nervous. In their most private thoughts, both were considering how excited they had been for this moment in the earlier parts of their day (had it really only been one day?); they were both sixteen, scantily clad and very much in love.

Now, lying here in the dark, both not only knew it would be terribly inappropriate, neither had even the slightest thoughts of any level of intimacy on their minds. Finally, Whisper felt Kroqgar take a deep, shuddering breath, and let it out in a sigh. As he exhaled, she felt something unwind within him, felt him relax when she hadn't known he'd been tense. Almost imperceptibly, she felt the slight thumping of his chest ease somewhat. She smiled softly to herself, before emulating him, and letting herself fall asleep in his arms.

The last thing she felt was the slightest tightening of his arms about her.

Another one bites the dust! I know the distance between chapters is deplorable, but I am going to finish this. I promised I will, and I'll be damned if I go back on that. Couple of notes on the story:

1.

I didn't want them to pretty much have the same stats, except for speed vs strength of course, but I honestly couldn't think of a pplausible way to seperate their levels of power or threat.

2.

You can almost tell that at the end there I was intending to lead towards a bit of "interaction" between Kroqgar and Whisper, but it honestly just didn't feel right after their talk with Naruto. However, we shall see what their morning brings.

That's all that comes to mind at the moment. The next chapter will have a bit of timeskipping, so we'll get in to the nitty-gritty! Until then, please review, and enjoy life!