A/N: This will last as long as I feel like writing it. Updates will be sporadic.

Training Montage… Because why not?

Jiraiya sat in the Hokage's office with the contents of a file folder spread out everywhere. Some papers were strewn across the floor, some on a couch, some on the Hokage's actual desk.

"You know, Sarutobi-sensei, I'm surprised he even graduated."

"I didn't know you were back, Jiraiya-kun."

Jiraiya waved absently at the aging Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi had retired once and was back for more after his replacement died.

"Sensei, how did Naruto graduate?" Jiraiya had that serious look, the one he had when he was focused on something other than women. It was rare for him to have that look. In the forty-ish years that Hiruzen had known Jiraiya, he'd only seen it during the wars.

"He learned the taiju kage bunshin no jutsu. It wasn't technically a graduation exam, but I figured he has plenty of time to straighten the rest out. You did."

Jiraiya frowned. "I had basic instruction to fall back on. Naruto has… a boatload of stamina, which isn't translating into chakra very well. And he's so hyperactive that he probably can't remember anything from the academy."

The Hokage shrugged. "I can't play favorites."

"You can't?" Jiriaya's lifted one eyebrow. The Hokage didn't move. The Hokage hoped the message was clear, but this was Jiraiya. Jiraiya may have been his favorite student, but he was also his slowest.

Realization dawned on Jiraiya. "But I don't have that problem. I can play favorites as much as I like, can call in favors from whomever I like..."

Hiruzen nodded a fraction of an inch, just enough that Jiraiya wouldn't pick up on it. He was getting old and his body betrayed him again with that nod. He lamented not having the discipline in his body that he'd had even five years prior. He lamented not having the discipline and power he'd had when he was thirty. Jiraiya had aged far better than he had though.


Naruto looked at the strange man in the onsen (it's like a public bath where you shower before soaking in hot water; there isn't an English translation that works well). He looked like an older, stricter version of that prick, Neji. He also had some sort of weird paint that would last a whole month.

"Hiashi-san, would you mind numbering each of the tenketsu?"

The dignified man didn't interrupt his work, the veins around his eyes still bulging. "Of course, Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya watched Hiashi apply henna ink over Naruto's chakra circulatory system, taking special care to put a dot at each of the tenketsu. He numbered them with Arabic numerals instead of Kanji because it would be easier to read all two hundred fifty six points.

Naruto fidgeted.

"Naruto, you have to sit still for at least an hour for the ink to set. If you mess this up, I definitely won't teach you anything. Maybe I'll go teach that Uchiha kid instead, just because you messed this up."

Jiraiya hid his smirk behind a mask of annoyance. He knew he'd pushed just the right buttons to get Naruto to cooperate.


"So I understand you heal fast. That's good, because we're going to work you into the dirt over and over again for the next month. As your interim sensei, I'll be providing you with nourishing food to replenish your strength and we'll be having sleepover camping by this lovely river here to maximize training time."

Naruto gulped.

"If you're afraid of work, then you should quit. This isn't going to be easy."

Naruto glared, obviously accepting the challenge. Jiraiya was almost annoyed at how easy it was, but then he remembered that Naruto was barely thirteen. Teenagers. He nearly rolled his eyes and wondered if he was this easy when he was that age. Then he wondered if his ego could take the answer to that question and started pushing/punishing Naruto instead.


Two hundred fifty six Naruto clones stood in a clearing. Each had a tiny piece of paper with a number on it. Each was trying to affix the paper to the corresponding number on the henna design on their bodies. The ones with numbers on the hands and feet were having an easier time than the rest, but they all doggedly kept at it.


Two hundred fifty six Naruto clones stood on the underside of tree branches in the forest. Each had a tiny piece of paper with a number on it. Each was trying to keep the piece of paper affixed to the corresponding number on their henna tattoos.


Two hundred fifty six Naruto clones stood on the water. Each had a tiny piece of plastic with a number on it. Each was trying to affix the plastic to the corresponding number on their henna tattoos.


Two hundred fifty six Naruto clones stood next to a river. Each had a plastic card with a number on it. Each had an eyedropper with water. Each was trying to keep a water droplet affixed to the corresponding number on their henna tattoos. For some reason, performing the taiju kage bunshin no jutsu was much easier every day this week.


Jiraiya nodded again in satisfaction, his brow furrowed and attention focused intently on Naruto. The blond boy, for his part, was holding a droplet of water on tenketsu point fifty-eight.

"Now to one-forty-three."

Naruto used the eye-dropper to suck up the droplet and placed it on tenketsu point one-forty-three. The tenketsu put out a steady dribble of chakra to keep the droplet from moving.

Jiraiya nodded again in satisfaction.

"Now that remedial training is done, we're moving on to some basic supplemental techniques."

Naruto started to bristle and Jiraiya could foresee an explosion coming.

"If you master these techniques, I'll show you the first step in a technique that's A-rank. If not, I'm sure that Sasuke kid would like to learn it..." Jiraiya almost felt bad for mashing that button to manipulate Naruto. Almost.

"Let's talk about the body-flicker."


Jiraiya was pleased. Seven days into his training schedule and Naruto was completely caught up with the ninjutsu parts of the academy curriculum. And then some. His taijutsu was… terrible would be harsh, but not inaccurate. The fact was that the boy had no style at all. It was a wonder Naruto didn't break his fists or feet when he hit something.

Still, there was something to be said for mastering the basics instead of training in advanced taijutsu. Now that Naruto's chakra control was somewhere along the lines of jonin-level, he could push the kage bunshin harder. And his taijutsu was, in fact, passable for an academy student.

The problem, of course, was that he was in the finals for the chunin exams. Passable for an academy student simply wouldn't be enough.

"One thousand kage bunshin will each execute five hundred perfect punches. One thousand kage bunshin will watch, one for each of the punching kage bunshin, and make absolutely certain that the punching kage bunshin are making perfect punches. If a single punch is not perfect from any clone, you'll begin the exercise from scratch."

Naruto's mouth hung open.

"If you cheat, you're only cheating yourself. I probably won't be able to tell with that many clones of you, so you're on your honor. But if you can accomplish it… well, you've realized how much better you've gotten at kage bunshin no jutsu after following my instructions last week."

Naruto put his hands into the familiar cross. He didn't even grumble, although his posture was grumbling for him.


One thousand Naruto clones punched. Each punch was perfect. They had finally gotten five hundred of them perfectly.


One thousand Naruto clones performed a front kick. Each kick was perfect.


One thousand Naruto clones performed a hammer fist strike. Each strike was perfect.


One thousand Naruto clones performed a round kick. Each kick was perfect.


One thousand Naruto clones performed a knife-hand strike. Each strike was perfect.


One thousand Naruto clones performed an elbow strike. Each strike was perfect.


One thousand Naruto clones performed a knee strike. Each strike was perfect.


Jiraiya and Naruto sparred. Naruto was much better than on that first day. His taijutsu was closer to jonin-level now, without even having a style. That's of course as high as he could get in taijutsu without a style. They were two weeks into training and the progress was remarkable. He didn't need hand signs to use the shunshin or the kage bunshin no jutsu. The problem, of course, was that the only thing left that might benefit from massive repetition would be elemental manipulation. Jiraiya only knew the basics of fire and wind. He had never bothered with elemental manipulation because he'd never needed it. He knew the techniques he knew, but repetition there wouldn't help much. Unless...

Jiraiya smirked.


Twelve hundred Naruto clones were in a field making hand signs. They molded a small amount of chakra, one hundred made each of one of the twelve standard hand signs, and then canceled the chakra.

"Okay. You know what each hand sign feels like when you mold chakra. Time for some practice with elemental techniques. Five clones, one for each element." Jiraiya held up five scrolls, each with a different C-rank elemental technique. Say what you will about the Uchiha Clan, their work had made Konoha's jutsu library comprehensive.

"Why only five, Ero-sennin? Wouldn't making a bunch speed things up?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "If you practice something incorrectly, you'll perform it incorrectly. Do you want to perform it incorrectly in battle?"

Naruto shook his head.

"When you first learn something, you'll be doing it one at a time. When you practice something to ingrain it, you'll do it a thousand at a time. Kage bunshin are pretty bad for discovering how to do one thing. They're good for learning or discovering several things or for things that benefit from repetition. Think about how many punches you've executed perfectly. It's got to be in the millions, right? So that's why when you punch now, even when you're in the heat of battle, it's faster, harder, and better."

"Huh." Naruto was thinking. Which obviously meant he needed to be training his reflexes and body more. Jiraiya started pushing him to react to thrown rocks.


Two hundred Naruto clones practiced the Katon: Flame Bullet technique. Two hundred clones practiced the Futon: Great Breakthrough technique. Two hundred clones practiced the Raiton: Thunder Strike technique (there isn't a C-rank canon technique that I can find right now, so let's just call this the precursor to the Thunderbolt). Two hundred clones practiced the Doton: Hiding Mole technique. Two hundred clones practiced the Suiton: Water Bullet technique.

During each execution, the clones would focus on how the chakra feels as they mold it.


"Now you're going to learn the Summoning jutsu."

Naruto looked at Jiraiya. They'd been training for… well, he'd lost track of time. "Oi! Ero-sennin, how much longer until the final stage of the chunin exam?"

Jiraiya cocked his head to the side and frowned. "Oh. That. A little more than a week left."

"You still haven't shown me that A-Rank technique."

"You still aren't ready yet. You can spend the month doing my training and then rip right through learning that one technique. Or you could spend six months trying to get the technique and you'd still suck at everything else."

Naruto grumbled and started to yell, but Jiraiya cut him off.

"Tell me you aren't better now. Go ahead. Lie to me. Tell me training with me has been a waste of your time."

Naruto stopped short and mumbled something about stupid, lecherous adults. Jiraiya couldn't be sure.

"How many hand signs do you require to perform the Katon: Flame Bullet?"

Naruto was still pouting, but he answered, "None."

"And how many hand signs does it take that Uchiha brat to perform his Katon: Great Fireball?"

Naruto shrugged and answered, "A bunch."

"And who do you think will be faster to fire their technique?"

"Me."

"Which is more important when fighting: being able to use a technique or knowing how to use it but being so slow that you have to have an elaborate setup just to pull it off?"

Naruto was still unhappy, but truthfully admitted, "Being able to use it."

"Good. Now shut up and watch the hand signs for Summoning."

Naruto watched and then practiced slowly, evenly performing the hand signs without molding chakra.

"Good. Now practice that five hundred times with one thousand clones, same as taijutsu. When you've done that perfectly, then you'll try executing the technique."

A thousand clones suddenly appeared and began practicing the signs while grumbling.


Jiraiya stood gobsmacked.

Gamabunta, the largest of the Toads of Mount Myōboku, was looking down at him.

Naruto was standing on Gamabunta's head.

It was Naruto's very first try.

"Oi, Jiraiya-chan. What the hell are you doing down there?"

Jiraiya pointed atop the massive toad's head. The giant toad tried to look, but when he couldn't see, his massive, pierced tongue shot up and wrapped around Naruto.

"What the hell, Jiraiya-chan?"

Naruto struggled and yelled, "Hey! Ero-sennin didn't summon you! I did!"

The giant toad lifted an eyebrow. Well, the skin above his eye socket raised. Toads don't have eyebrows. That would be weird.

"It was my first try, too!"

The giant toad let out a belly laugh and looked down at Jiraiya. "Is he serious?"

Jiraiya was ever so subtly trying to slink away. He froze, turned to face the chief toad, and nodded.

"He's not even old enough to drink!" (How can he enunciate while holding someone with his tongue, one might ask? He's a toad and his tongue is enormous.)

Jiraiya nodded again. All that time he'd spent on the basics. All the effort he'd put into making Naruto get the basics down. And his first try at the Summoning jutsu summoned Gama-motherf#cking-Bunta.

Ridiculously enormous stamina, plus the equivalent of a decade of practice molding chakra, plus several years worth of chakra control exercises equals… this. Jiraiya knew he'd set a path for Naruto to succeed, but this was beyond his wildest imagination.

Naruto and Bunta were loudly arguing about something. Jiraiya wasn't paying attention. He was having second thoughts about handing way too much power over to a teenager that he barely knew. Minato's kid or not, this was just absurd. He needed to think. And maybe have a conversation with his own sensei.


"Were you watching in that spy ball of yours?"

Jiraiya was in the Hokage's office again, late at night. Naruto had made some bet with Gamabunta over the right to summon him. Naruto had won. Jiraiya left him snoring at the camp site.

The Hokage shook his head.

"He summoned Gamabunta."

"That's –"

"On the first try."

"– What? I must be getting old. Did you say he summoned Gamabunta on his first try?"

Jiraiya nodded.

Hiruzen frowned. "How?"

Jiraiya explained the training he'd done.

Hiruzen nodded. "That would do it. That's an extraordinary idea using the kage bunshin like that. Was it yours?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Kakashi Hatake wrote a note about the possibility of using the technique like that several years ago, but in the note it stated that someone would have to have enormous chakra reserves to be able to pull it off. He ultimately found that he couldn't maintain the technique long enough for it to be worth the strain."

"I wonder why he never mentioned it to Naruto."

Jiraiya shrugged. "Probably because he's a shitty teacher. It's not his fault; most geniuses are shitty teachers. Though there are exceptions," he smirked, "Professor."

"His students have done remarkably though."

"I have no doubt that Kakashi has taught them some things, but the fact is that his team would have been remarkable with anyone. Kakashi taught them the things that Kakashi sucked at when he was their age. Mostly life skills and teamwork. That stuff, he's been pretty good at teaching, honestly."

Hiruzen frowned.

"I'm not badmouthing the man. And his team is… well, they've got the potential to be another Sanin, if I'm honest. I'm just saying that he's not perfect, that there are things he does actually suck at. Hell, I like him. He's one of my biggest fans. He's a great shinobi. He's sharp, he's quick, he's a living library of jutsu."

"Do you have a point?"

"Nothing other than what I've already said. I was just trying to get a better read on Naruto's character. I'm a little concerned that I've advanced him too quickly and that much ability is going to blow up his ego."

Jiraiya looked away before continuing. "I'm terrified I might have created an Orochimaru."

Hiruzen sighed. "I never worried about that."

"What do you mean?"

"I never worried about my students becoming monsters. I just didn't think it was possible."

"Do you have any advice for me, sensei?"

Hiruzen rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I created the first Orochimaru. I don't think my advice is all that credible. However, for what it's worth, Naruto doesn't remind me of Orochimaru in any way. He reminds me of you. Just less focused on women, and more focused on ramen and becoming Hokage."


"Here's the deal: we don't have time to do everything that I wanted to do before the finals."

Naruto looked crestfallen.

"I promised you an A-rank jutsu and I'm going to teach you an A-ranked jutsu, one way or another. You just have to decide if it's more important for you to start learning that jutsu or to be prepared for the final."

Naruto looked thoughtful, pensive even. And then he grumbled out his answer. "I should be prepared for the final."

Jiraiya smiled. "Great! So, your last bit of training from me is this: find out everything you can about each of the other competitors. I know you have stealth skills, so use them. You have five days left."

Naruto suspicious. "Are you sure you aren't trying to weasel out and spy on the baths?"

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a factor. But you've progressed beyond my wildest imagination. You really do need to know what you're facing though. But if you can explain to me why it's more important to learn or even master one more jutsu instead of knowing what your competition can do, I'll happily avoid the ladies and teach you another jutsu."

Naruto frowned. Debate was not his specialty. Logical reasoning wasn't either. With a huff, he turned away.

"Fine. I'm going."

Jiraiya smiled. He already liked Naruto. He would give him an exercise to figure out the first part of the rasengan after the exams.

"Don't shirk practicing your chakra control just because you've already spent so much time on it, either. You can always benefit from more control."