Tender Sea

Chapter 14

"So how was it?" Sarutobi asked as this year's jounin senseis lines up before him. Honestly he expected most if not all of them would fail, but lowering the graduation level gave each student more chances and those that were good enough to pass wouldn't be held back.

"Team 1, failed." Shikaku announced.

"Same here." echoed all the other jounins except for one. They all had matching, bored expressions and wanted to be back on the field fighting for their village as soon as possible. So they chose to stare at their comrade who had yet to voice his opinions.

"Team 7, passed." Hizashi spoke with a smile in his voice.

"You didn't go easy on them, right?" the Nara asked with a hint of disbelief.

"I didn't." They could tell he wasn't going to elaborate unless they continued to ask.

"Who did you have?" Chouza asked.

"Umino Iruka and Uchiha Miyu." Hizashi answered.

"Don't forget Uzumaki!" Kushina called, "Or Namikaze." She added as an afterthought.

"I know Iruka's from an average ninja family but that Miyu kid..." Shikaku thought back, "She's the one Minato discovered right? The amnesiac that became Rookie of the Year."

"They must be fairly skilled." A nameless jounin wondered.

"I think so at least." Hizashi confirmed. "They managed to past my test after all."

"And what was your test?" Inoichi inquired curiously.

"A simple spar."

"Then they must have showed enough team work to pass." Someone added.

"Oh, and then some," Hizashi clarified, "They managed to get a couple of good hits in after all." He lifted up part of his clothing to show the bruise on the side of his abdomen."

"One of the managed to hit you?" Chouza voiced with slight disbelief.

"They both did." He wasn't ashamed at all. In fact he was proud they manage to get him, even if he hadn't been fighting at his best.

"Of course they would!" Kushina shouted proudly, "Miyu's already got the basics down pat and I'm guessing Iruka has as well."

"Hm." The Hokage sat back thoughtfully, listening to the discussion in front of him. "Well, it seems that despite what we thought we have a couple of newbie genin." His words ended whatever the others wished to say, "That's all there is to it. Feel free to leave, you're dismissed, you probably want to get back to your families." The Hokage allowed them to return while Hizashi stayed in his office. "Is there something else you wanted to talk about, Hizashi-san?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," The Hyuga confirmed, "Today I spared with my genin and noticed, with the Byakugan, that Miyu seems to have some unnatural chakra. Though both she and Iruka have high levels for academy graduates her chakra coils seems reinforced in preparation for something I can only guess about and for some reason their seems to be a foreign chakra source around her stomach. To make it more confusing her partner, that fox, also has quite a developed chakra system and its chakra is similar to the foreign one within her." Sarutobi took a moment to think. Konoha's newest resident was still a mystery even after 2 months.

"I've had reports from her time at the hospital and it seems she has some sort of seal on her stomach." The Hokage informed, "We don't know anything about the ninja that brought her up other than their assumed efficiency, and what you've told me is interesting and unusual. I've already called Jiraiya back to look at the seal, which might the reason for her altered coils."