Author's Notes: I got the idea for this story while reading History's Strongest Disciple: Kenichi. If a weak, wimpy Kenichi, without any prior knowledge or training in martial arts could become that strong in a little more than a year, why couldn't a determined Naruto, already possessing basic shinobi training, become stronger than what he became in the manga by training for more than two years?

I would appreciate any constructive reviews: positive or negative.

Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or History's Strongest Disciple: Kenichi.

Chapter 1

Uzumaki Naruto was happy. Barely, an hour ago, he had left Konoha along with Jiraiya to train for the next two-and-a-half years. Sure the man was a pervert, but he was a super-strong pervert. Naruto was sure that he was going to become strong as well. He couldn't wait for the training to begin.

Just you wait, Sasuke.

Jiraiya looked at his young charge. They had been walking for the last hour and he could see the gaki trembling in excitement. In the last few days, he had made some drastic changes in his plans for training Naruto. While his initial plan would have strengthened Naruto, he would not be strong enough to face the Akatsuki.

I am sorry, Minato. But this is the only way to make sure your son survives.

"Naruto."

Naruto turned around and saw that Jiraiya had stopped.

"Why did you stop, ero-sennin?" he asked, annoyed. He was about to continue but he saw the serious look on the older shinobi's face and kept his mouth shut.

Jiraiya released all of his killing intent as he spoke to Naruto, "Gaki, I will not lie to you. My training will be harsh. There is a full possibility that you could get killed during the training. If you want to back out, you can do it now. Because once you start the training, you can either leave the training by completing it or by dying."

Naruto was overwhelmed by the killing intent. It was as terrifying as Orochimaru's. But he could not give up now. He had to get Sasuke back.

"I am not going to back out. That's my nindo, to never give up", he said, struggling to stand up against the massive killing intent.

Jiraiya smiled and the killing intent disappeared.

"You are gutsy, gaki", he said, hoisting Naruto over his shoulder. Naruto squawked in protest.

"Oi, what are you doing, ero-sennin? Put me down."

"Relax, gaki", he said, chuckling ominously. "I am taking you to your hell."

Two-and-a-half years later

Sakura ran down the streets of Konoha with the Konohamaru corps running right behind her. If what the gatekeepers said was true, then…

The long white hair was recognizable even from that distance. Jiraiya was standing in the middle of the street looking at something in the sky. He turned around slightly as they came to a halt next to him.

"Hey, is that him?" asked an excited Konohamaru, looking up the pole near him. Sakura gazed up as well. There was no mistaking that mop of blonde hair.

"Naruto! Hey, Naruto!" she shouted.

Naruto looked down on hearing his name. He stared at them for a moment before realizing who they were. He jumped down with a happy grin.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura looked at Naruto for a moment. He was wearing a black, sleeveless jacket, zipped in the centre. He wore dark orange pants with kunai pouches on both legs along with blue, standard shinobi footwear. He also had a belt across his waist with two pouches attached. He wore two blood red armguards that covered most of his forearms and his hand, though the fingers were uncovered. His headband no longer had the old, blue cloth. Rather, it was tied across his forehead with a black cloth.

But there was something else that really bugged Sakura.

"Naruto, you are taller than me now", she said.

Naruto carefully measured their heads with his hand, before yelling in delight, "Alright! I'm no longer the shortest."

"Hey boss!"

Naruto turned around to see a really beautiful brunette, completely naked, winking at him. She disappeared in a puff of smoke and Konohamaru stood in her place. "What do you think of that?"

Naruto smiled at the young boy. Konohamaru had grown up. He was a genin now.

"Hey, Konohamaru", he said. "That henge was excellent. But that really won't help you in an actual fight." He ruffled the boy's head, "I'm gonna teach you some awesome techniques, dattebayo."

Sakura smiled as she realized that Naruto had grown up after all. A cough interrupted her musings. Standing behind her was a well-endowed, blonde woman with a diamond shaped mark on her forehead.

"Tsunade-baachan!"

Suppressing the urge to send Naruto into a coma on his first day back, she said, "Welcome back, gaki. I hope you have become stronger."

Jiraiya spoke for the first time, "Oi, what do you think? I trained him."

Tsunade leaned towards Jiraiya and whispered, "For your sake, I hope you did not turn him into a pervert."

Jiraiya gulped nervously.

"Alright Naruto, you haven't been on any missions for over two years", said Tsunade. "So, you will have to give a test. A fight, if you will."

"Cool", the blonde exclaimed. "Who do I have to fight?"

"That would be me", came a voice from behind him.

"Kakashi-sensei", he exclaimed, as he saw his one-eyed, masked teacher walking towards him.

"Yo, Naruto", he said, giving a lazy wave of his hand. "You've grown up."

Naruto dug into his pouch and pulled out a green-covered book. "Hey sensei, I've got a gift for you. It's really boring, but you like books like these, don't you?"

Kakashi took the book from him, his eye wide open in wonderment. "Is this…?"

He read the title 'Icha-Icha Tactics'. "Isn't this book supposed to be released a month from now?" he asked, almost drooling.

"Can we get back onto the topic?" asked the Godaime Hokage, getting increasingly annoyed.

"Oh, yes", said Kakashi, snapping out of his daze. "Naruto, Sakura, both of you will be fighting me. You have not fought together in a long time. And Sakura, you have been mostly restricted to medical training under Tsunade-sama. I will decide if you are ready to go back onto the field."

"It's almost noon now. There is something I need to do. So let's meet at the old Training Ground Three at four in the evening. Bye." And he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"What? Where did he run off to?" asked Naruto.

"To read that book, obviously", said Sakura, sounding annoyed at her sensei.

"He has always been my greatest fan", said Jiraiya, wearing a self-satisfied smirk.

Tsunade sighed. "Anyways, you two should prepare for the evening. Jiraiya, come along. I want a full report." And the two left in a swirl of leaves, as well.

"Konohamaru-kun", said Moegi, "we need to leave as well. Ebisu-sensei will be looking for us."

"Oh, right", he said, smacking his head. "See you later, boss."

They ran away, leaving Sakura and Naruto alone.

"Hey Sakura-chan", said Naruto. "How about lunch? My treat."

"Your treat, eh? Fine", she said. "Besides, you need to tell me what you have been up to in the last two-and-a-half years."

They had an enjoyable lunch and had run into Shikamaru and Temari on the way. Naruto had been dismayed and depressed on hearing that he was the only one in their group who was still a genin. He had been happy and proud though when he heard that Gaara had become the Kazekage. They had talked for some time and had finally arrived on Training Ground Three.

"How much longer do we have to wait?"

It was half-past-five and Naruto and Sakura had been waiting for Kakashi for the last two hours. Naruto had been eagerly waiting to show-off his skills and was now pulling his hair in frustration.

"Are you actually surprised?" asked Sakura, though she sounded annoyed herself. "When has that man ever been on time?"

"But I thought he would have changed a little bit", whined Naruto. "I mean, it has been three years."

"Bah! There is no way he is ever going to change", scoffed Sakura.

A little further away, concealed by some trees, three people awaited Kakashi's arrival.

"Kakashi sure is taking his time, isn't he?" said Shizune.

Jiraiya gave a lecherous chuckle, "What can I say? My books are just that great."

"Keeping talking pervert and I will give you something else to talk about", said Tsunade, crushing a stone in her hand. Jiraiya gulped and decided to remain quiet.

"Hello, my dear students", came a cheerful voice from behind Naruto and Sakura.

"YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi stuffed his fingers into his ears. He pulled them out and waved cheerfully at his former students.

"Now, now… What are you so upset about?" he asked, ignoring their glares.

He looked around wistfully. "It's been some time since we have all been here together, hasn't it?"

Naruto and Sakura merely looked at the ground depressed. They both knew and felt Sasuke's absence.

"Anyways", said Kakashi, pulling two bells out of his pocket. He tied them to his waist. His two ex-students looked at the bells in surprise and some amount of trepidation. They both remembered the humiliation they had suffered at Kakashi's hands many years ago.

"You know the rules", said Kakashi, lifting his headband, revealing the sharingan. The younger shinobi looked at him in surprise. "Get the bells. You have till sunrise." And, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Naruto and Sakura looked around, but there was no sign of him.

"Naruto, get back", said Sakura, and without further thought, punched the ground. What followed next scared Naruto to the core.

The ground split open and broke apart for several metres, huge chunks of stone flying about. And in a crater, a few feet away, they saw Kakashi sitting with a wide-eyed expression.

In the trees, Jiraiya shuddered violently. "Damn it! It looks like Tsunade created a mini-me."

Naruto shook with fear. "Just like the old lady", he thought. "I had better be careful around her, or she will actually kill me."

"Found you, sensei", said the pink-haired girl, smiling sweetly at the copy-nin.

"Not bad, Sakura", said Kakashi, regaining his calm. "But…", he stopped suddenly and looked down in alarm. Vines were creeping along his body, tying him up.

"Genjutsu", he thought, and broke through it. He looked up and jumped into the air immediately, Sakura's fist missing him by inches. But Sakura had anticipated that move and grabbing a large chunk of the ground she had broken earlier, she hurled it into the air towards Kakashi, who could not dodge it mid-air.

Kakashi threw a kunai, with an exploding tag attached to it, towards the piece of land headed at him, causing it to explode. He landed safely some way away from Sakura.

"Very good, Sakura", he praised. "It seems you took lesson number two to heart."

"Yup", she replied. "What was it that you said? Oh yeah. Genjutsu." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Kakashi wanted to say something more, but at that very instant he felt Naruto approach. Turning slightly to his right, he saw Naruto charge at him, his fist extended. Kakashi promptly grabbed the extended arm and threw Naruto over his head.

But to his surprise, Naruto did not crash onto the ground. Instead, he righted himself mid-air and landed on his feet.

Naruto took a deep breath and raised his fists, his right leg ahead of his left. "Let's go."

And he attacked again.

Kakashi blocked the incoming fist and was momentarily surprised by the power behind it. But he had no time to think as he had to duck to avoid the sudden kick to his face. He moved back out of Naruto's range and gathered himself. He had not expected Naruto to have shown such improvement.

"You have improved, Naruto", said Kakashi, before charging at Naruto. And the two started trading blows at an incredible pace. What was most surprising was that Naruto was able to keep up with Kakashi although he had his sharingan activated. Then, in a sudden burst of speed, Kakashi appeared behind Naruto and delivered a powerful kick at him only for Naruto to break into pieces of wood.

"Kawarimi!" exclaimed a stunned Kakashi.

In the trees, Shizune and Tsunade watched in shock at Naruto's performance – though for entirely different reasons. Shizune was shocked because of Naruto's reaction time, especially his last move. That kawarimi had been instantaneous.

Tsunade, though, was surprised by the moves Naruto used.

"Ryuusui Seikkuken? Naruto?" she asked, turning to look at a smiling Jiraiya.

"Surprising, isn't it?" he said. "Naruto is loud, brash and…not very bright. But he is an entirely different person when it comes to combat. He is focussed, determined and he has lots and lots of guts."

"But a sei fighter?" asked Tsunade.

"Huh?" asked Shizune, looking very confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Basically, there are two types of fighters: dou and sei", explained Jiraiya, entering his teacher-mode. "To make it short, a dou fighter gains power by focussing their strength and releasing it outwardly, like an explosion. A sei fighter, on the other hand, turn their strength inwards and release it in a calm, controlled manner. Neither type is stronger than the other though. It is just a manner of combat."

"Which is why Naruto being a sei fighter is surprising", said Tsunade. "Given his personality, I was sure he would be a dou fighter."

"I am not sure about that", said Jiraiya. "The Fourth Hokage had a calm personality but he was a dou fighter."

"So what was this technique Naruto used that had you so surprised, Tsunade-sama?" asked Shizune.

"Ryuusui Seikkuken. It is one of the highest techniques in the sei style", said Tsunade, as she watched Naruto and Kakashi trade blows. "Is that why he was able to use the kawarimi that quickly?"

"Not exactly", said Jiraiya. "It was partly due to the Ryuusui Seikkuken. Mostly though, I think he felt the air behind him get displaced when Kakashi suddenly moved behind him and used kawarimi on instinct."

"He has really improved tremendously", said the blonde medic. "But he hasn't mastered it completely, has he, Jiraiya?"

"No", said Jiraiya, watching the fight. "But he is close. Oh look, Tsunade. Your apprentice has re-joined the battle."

They watched as Sakura hurled a huge log at Kakashi, forcing him to jump out of the way.

"Naruto, are you ok?" she asked, joining him.

"Yeah", he said, taking deep breaths to calm himself. "Oh, damn it."

Kakashi had started forming hand-seals rapidly. He stopped at 'bird' calling out a very familiar name: "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu".

A great water dragon appeared before Kakashi and shot off towards them.

"Sakura-chan, get behind me", shouted Naruto, pulling a paper tag from his waist pouch. He threw it into the air and quickly brought his hands together in a ram seal. The paper, instead of falling down, floated in the air, glowing.

The water dragon hit the tag and was stopped in its path by a barrier that had suddenly appeared.

Kakashi stared at his old student, impressed. "Barrier ninjutsu", he thought. "Well done, Naruto. You have truly grown."

"Naruto", said Sakura. "We need to retreat for now and re-group."

"Wait, Sakura-chan", he said, turning towards her. "Remember that jab I showed you earlier? Let's give it a try. If it fails, we fall back."

She stared at him for a moment.

"Alright", she said. "But I can only give you a second. Follow my lead."

And she charged towards Kakashi, Naruto at her heels.

She approached Kakashi and threw a punch at his face. He moved his head to dodge it, but at that moment his sharingan detected a very faint genjutsu. He broke it immediately and had to side-step a spear hand strike thrown at his waist.

But even as he dodged, he felt the bells fall away. He looked down in surprise to see Sakura scoop the bells up and tossing one to Naruto.

"So what do you think, sensei?" she asked, both holding their bells up with cheeky smiles.

"Heh", he snorted, lowering his headband over his sharingan. "The two of you have really grown up. You pass", he said, with his trademark eye-smile.

"Though I am curious, how did you cut the string, Naruto?" he asked, being certain that the bells had been cut and not pulled away.

Naruto raised his hand. A faint glow surrounded it. Kakashi's eye widened in recognition. "Wind chakra", he said.

"Yup", said Naruto, grinning happily.

Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune walked up to them.

"Good job, you two", said Tsunade. "Well, Kakashi?"

Kakashi stood straight and reported, "They are ready, Hokage-sama."

"Huh?" asked Naruto, looking at each adult.

"Haruno Sakura", barked Tsunade.

"Hai, shishou", said Sakura, standing in attention.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"H...h...hai", said Naruto, completely flustered by the sudden formalities.

"Considering your performance, from here on, you will report to jonin Hatake Kakashi. You will be called as Team Kakashi."

Both Sakura and Naruto looked delighted. Naruto had to suppress the urge to jump around shouting 'dattebayo'.

"Good job, brat", said Jiraiya, looking proud.

"The three of you report to my office tomorrow morning", said Tsunade. "I will assign you your first mission."

"YES", shouted Naruto, punching his fist into the air.

"Well then, how about we go and have dinner?" said Kakashi, to his new subordinates. "My treat. You can have whatever you want."

The next thing Kakashi knew, he was being dragged by the arm at breakneck speed by Naruto, who kept shouting, "RAMEN, HERE I COME! DATTEBAYO!"

"Hey, wait for me", shouted Sakura, running after them.

Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune looked on as the newly formed Team Kakashi ran away.

"Tsunade", said Jiraiya, "make sure that you give them an A or S-ranked mission tomorrow."

"But why?" asked a concerned Shizune, who didn't think it was safe for Naruto to be doing anything higher than a C-rank.

"Because Kakashi is going to need the money", he replied, chuckling.

"Explain, pervert", said Tsunade.

"Well, it's been six months since Naruto had ramen", said Jiraiya, still chuckling at Kakashi's plight. "And he didn't have any this afternoon, because I made him promise that he wouldn't eat ramen until he had passed whatever test you gave him."

Shizune summed up all their thoughts, "Poor, poor Kakashi."