Chapter 2: One Month of Hell
"It's good to have you back, Naruto!" The Third cheerfully said as he looked at the resident prankster, "Judging who you're with it seems that you met with the toads?"
Naruto gave of a wide smile, "Yeah! They let me sign their contract!" He showed off his new sash proudly. Hiruzen just smirked the whole time, "Guess that means I have something over you, old man!"
The smirk grew on the Hokage's face as under the desk he weaved the hand signs for the summoning jutsu. Wordlessly he summoned a small monkey. It wore a small head band around his waist that had the kanji for monkey on it, "Send word to Kakashi Hatake that his student has returned from his little adventure." The monkey jumped out the window with a screech, "I think it'll be a few years before you'll have anything on me!"
Flabbergasted, Naruto sat back in a chair, "Well I better get going then." Jiraiya went to follow the monkey, but Hiruzen held up his hand.
"We need to talk later, Jiraiya." The toad sage nodded, relaxing against one the pillars in the office. Hiruzen's attention turned back to Naruto, "When your sensei returned he asked to take your team on a month-long training trip."
"Really?" Naruto perked his head up, "Where to?"
"Why here in the village, to a training ground usually reserved only to Jonin." The Hokage began to tell Naruto of Training Ground Forty-Four, "It's called the Forest of Death, and let me tell you, Naruto, it lives up to its name! Poisonous plants, killer bugs, giant animals; it's guaranteed that if you spend a month in there you'll come out stronger!"
The genin was now completely enthralled by this forty-fourth training ground. First signing a summoning contract then getting the chance to spend a month in a dangerous place to train, "How did I get so lucky?"
"Because that's just your dumb luck, Naruto." Naruto looked over towards where the voice was coming from and found Kakashi perched on the windowsill, much like a bird.
Letting out a big grin the student greeted his teacher, "Hey there, Kakashi-Sensei!"
"Hey back, my long-lost student!" Kakashi stepped down, noticing Jiraiya, "It's good to see you, Lord Jiraiya." A respectful nod came from the Sannin. Looking between the Hokage and Jiraiya he read the room. He went to grab Naruto, but stopped, "If I heard right, it seems that you'll allow me to take my team to the Forest of Death?"
"Yes, come back tomorrow and we'll iron out the details." Replied Hiruzen, "Naruto, if you'd like we can go grab a bowl of ramen later tonight, I'll bring Konohamaru and you can tell us about the Land of Waves!" Naruto nodded before being grabbed by Kakashi. In a flash the two were gone.
Hiruzen twitched a finger and five fingers flashed from the room while simultaneously closing every window and every door, "What's got you all riled up, Sensei?"
"Otogakure and its possible connection to Orochimaru." The temperature of the room dropped as Jiraiya tensed up, "A day ago Danzo came in with some intel that the Land of Rice had recently changed to the Land of Sound with a new village instantaneously coming into existence." Hiruzen looked at his last loyal student, trying to read him, "Other than few sightings of Orochimaru around the Land of Rice we have no definitive way of knowing if this information is true or not, have you heard anything in your travels?"
"I've got nothing on Otogakure, but I have a question for you, Sensei." Jiraiya set a small scroll on the desk, "Have you heard of the Akatsuki?"
Hiruzen thought for a moment, "I had heard that old gnome, Onoki, had been using the Akatsuki on a few high-risk missions, but other than that I haven't heard much."
"It's a group of S-Rank missing nin who's been cornering the market on S-Rank missions, but that isn't the best part!" Unrolling the scroll the picture of the traitorous snake Sannin was revealed, "Until two years ago Orochimaru was a member. Seems the slippery bastard had a falling out!"
"This is… disturbing." Honestly it was scary enough with a someone as powerful, and evil, as Orochimaru leading a village, but to have him mixed up in a group that housed other missing nin that were just as, if not more, powerful than him, words couldn't describe how he felt, "I want anything you can dig up on this Akatsuki on my desk when you return, but I also need as much information on Otogakure as possible before the Chunin Exams begin!"
Jiraiya let out a sigh, "I don't know how much I can learn in two months," The toad sage started, "However, whatever I can find on this village I will. As for the Akatsuki, they cover their tracks well!"
"One more thing, Jiraiya." Hiruzen sent out a flash of chakra and the room was once again open, "If Naruto enters and makes it to the third round of the Chunin Exams would you like to train him?"
A small smile appeared on the toad sage's lips. It was barely noticeable to the naked eye, it could also be described as hopeful, "I would like that!"
"Good!"
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"So, you signed the toad's contract?" Kakashi asked as the teacher and student walked the packed streets of Konohagakure, "That's really nostalgic."
"Nostalgic?" Naruto had his hands holding his head up, "What does that mean, Sensei?"
Kakashi blinked, although he soon remembered that he was speaking to a thirteen-year-old that wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, "It means that my sensei signed the very same contract and I'm feeling sentimental about it."
It amazed the genin that he was taught by someone who could summon toads, "Was it that Jiraiya guy?"
"No." A chuckle escaped from the silver haired jonin, "I was taught by the Fourth Hokage, Minato-Sensei, although Jiraiya was my sensei's sensei!"
"Wait that goofball taught the Fourth Hokage?" It seemed a bit surreal, "And you were taught by the Fourth? But you're weird as well!" Naruto's brain was going a hundred miles a minute, "Does that mean the Fourth was weird too!" An image of the regal Minato Namikaze giggling while he read Make Out Paradise much like Kakashi popped into his head.
The image also popped into Kakashi's head as well. He didn't want to laugh, but a small chuckle broke from his serious façade, "No, Minato-Sensei was actually a quiet man. He had this strange sense of calm about him."
"Really, but he was a badass!" The boy replied.
"Trust me, he was a badass, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have been calm." Kakashi turned the corner on the street that housed Naruto's home, "Take your beloved sensei, for example; completely calm, but I was actually an Anbu captain."
"Wow that's kind of cool, Kakashi-Sensei!" The two began to ascend the stairs to the boy's apartment building, "Maybe one day I can be like you or the Fourth!"
Kakashi wanted to say something to someone so hyperactive, however, he decided not to, "Good luck, Naruto." The jonin gave his student a genuine smile, although it couldn't be seen from under his mask, "Team Seven won't be going on any missions for the next two days. I'll come get you in when we head out to the Forest of Death."
Naruto nodded then went into his apartment with a smile. It truly felt nice to be home. He went to look back to his sensei, yet he was gone, 'Damn he's sneaky!'
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Lights slowly began to illuminate Konoha as the sun slowly set on the village. Children returned home for slumber, merchants slowly began to close their shops for the night, and the shinobi and kunoichi that had been watching the village in the day switched with those who watched it at night. Others still slowly made their way to the streets below, off duty ninja, couples, and friends that just wanted to get out and about.
It was here that Sakura could be found carrying a few bags from the grocery store. Even with though it had been a few days since the mission to wave the pink haired girl couldn't help, but feel as though she hardly contributed to the mission. It had been Kakashi-Sensei, Sasuke, and Naruto that had done the fighting while she had just sat back and protect the bridge builder, Tazuna.
What was the extent of her abilities? Sure, she could use the clone jutsu, body replacement jutsu, and the transformation jutsu, still though, it wasn't much. She could also use the basic academy taijutsu, she also was competent with weapons, and her chakra control was damn near perfect, well perfect for her age. She wanted more though!
On her way home she saw Kakashi walking towards her, reading his perverted book in public, as usual. As much as Sakura wanted to punch him for that she needed to talk to him, "Kakashi-Sensei!" The genin called out.
Kakashi lowered his book just to see his student waving at him, "Good evening, Sakura."
"Sensei, I want to get stronger!" She nearly shouted, startling a couple passersby. The copy ninja stared at his student, "I don't want to be weak anymore!"
"Why?" The question was simple, still the gravity of it seemed to send a shockwave through the genin, "Is it to impress Sasuke, to hold it over Naruto's head, or is there another reason?"
Sakura didn't know what to say to this. How could Kakashi dare to ask her that! Her fists tightened then loosened as she thought, "I'm frustrated, Sensei. I'm no help to Sasuke and ever since we left the academy Naruto has just been getting stronger!" The silver haired jonin face was as stone as he heard the girl, "But both of them risked their lives on our mission, all I did was hang back! I didn't fight, I didn't even get hurt, but Sasuke looked like a porcupine and Naruto was forced to fight that hunter nin all alone!"
Kakashi nodded, "Let me walk you home, Sakura." Sakura nodded and followed her sensei. She thought about why the jonin had asked her why she wanted to get stronger. It was very confusing. It didn't long for the two of them to be found in front of Sakura's home, "Two days and we'll move out. Be sure to bring enough provision to last you a month!" With an eye smile the jonin flashed away.
Sakura didn't even need to nod to her sensei. She merely walked in her house and closed the door.
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Silence. Silence, and the sound of steel hitting wood. Sasuke Uchiha was barely a genin and he already had a title, The Last Loyal Uchiha. Only he and his traitorous brother were all that remained of the illustrious Uchiha clan. One day he would find his brother as well as kill him thus avenging every soul slain by the missing nin.
Having finally unlocked his Sharingan was just the first step. He couldn't rest on his laurels, however, he needed to keep pushing himself. He needed to go beyond his limits if he were to catch up to the prodigy, Itachi, "You know I told you to rest for a few days, right?"
Sasuke looked up in the tree he had been throwing shuriken at with a grimace. Kakashi was standing on one of the limbs, "I can't afford to relax."
"Sometimes we all need to just take a break!" Kakashi hopped down, "You can't just run your body into the ground, it needs to rest or else all the work you've done will have been for nothing." The jonin stood perfectly still as Sasuke put away his remaining shuriken, he also deactivated his clan's legendary Dojutsu.
"Do you think the clan killer is resting?" The jonin could feel the rage that bubbled just under the boy's surface, "No! He's probably gotten even stronger then when he exterminated my clan!"
A sigh escaped from the jonin, "I have no doubt that Itachi has gotten stronger, but even a monster like him needs rest." Kakashi slumped down against the ground then leaned his back to the tree, "Why don't you go talk to Naruto?"
"He's back?" Finally, the rage began to ebb and give way to curiosity, "What contract did he sign?"
"Naruto signed the toad contract!" Pride sprung up like a wellspring within Team Seven's sensei.
Sasuke on the other hand felt twinge of jealousy at the fact that his teammate now had a summoning contract. This contract wasn't just any contract; however, it was the contract that was held by the legendary member of the Sannin, but also the Yellow Flash of Konoha, "Will Naruto be trained by Lord Jiraiya?"
"Not that I'm aware of, but it will probably happen in the coming year." Kakashi could already sense that that might incense the Uchiha scion, and was prepared for the worst, but merely heard Sasuke laugh.
The irony was palpable. Sasuke's laughter subsided eventually, "That just means I have to keep up my training.
"After you rest, Sasuke." Kakashi got up then walked towards the village, "Why don't we go grab a bite to eat?"
"I'm not hungry!" The Uchiha boy growled through his teeth. Unfortunately, he couldn't back up that growl as his stomach began to unleash its own growl, "Where?"
"Well, you have the choice of barbeque or ramen!" Kakashi didn't care either way, if he was honest.
Sasuke wasn't in the mood for barbeque, however, if he said ramen he would start sounding like Naruto, "I don't want barbeque."
Kakashi didn't want to push it any further than he needed to, he really didn't, "Maybe Naruto is starting to rub off on you." Maybe just a little. The jonin took the lead.
'Damn!' Sasuke cursed inside his head. He followed quickly behind his sensei.
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"Then this guy named Haku jumped out of the trees and knocked out Zabuza pretending to be one of those hunter ninja's!" Naruto was sitting on a stool in front of a counter with a bowl of miso ramen and two empty close to him. Beside him sat the Third Hokage, without his hat, and a small boy with chocolate hair, "Kakashi-Sensei collapsed, and we had to carry his lazy ass to Old Man Tazuna's house!"
"That's so cool!" The little boy, Konohamaru Sarutobi, nearly yelled, "More, tell me more!"
Hiruzen smiled at the two children before him. They were both his grandchildren, even though one wasn't even his own blood, "I would also like to hear about your mission, but please don't speak with your mouth full, Naruto!" He slurped some noodles from his own bowl, "It's quite rude."
"Okay!" Naruto continued on about training to walk on trees, which seemed to fill Konohamaru with envy, and about the final battle, "He had this weird jutsu, too!" He went into detail about Haku and the events that transpired. By the end of it Naruto seemed to be solemn, "Why did he have to die?"
"Our line of work forces us to see such thing, Naruto." The once jubilant dinner had gone quiet, "Just remember what that boy told you about those precious to you and having the strength to protect them."
"I will, gramps!" Naruto took on a determined look as he finished off his third bowl
"I will, too!" Konohamaru followed suit.
"It warms this old heart of mine to hear it!" Soon enough the Hokage finished his bowl as well, "In fact I've had so much fun tonight that I've decided to give you both gifts!"
"Oh boy, grandpa, what did you get me!" The younger Sarutobi was quite impatient.
"For you, Konohamaru, I'm gifting you your own staff!" The Hokage pulled out a small scroll and unrolled it. He soon released a small, wooden bo-staff, "During the evening I'll begin to teach you how to use it!" the young Sarutobi let out a loud thank you, he was extremely excited to learn from his grandpa, "As for you Naruto," He pulled out a different scroll, but unlike it being a sealing scroll this was a ninjutsu scroll, "This scroll holds the instructions to learn the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Is that like the shadow clone jutsu?" The genin asked.
"Yes, however it clones the shuriken you throw." He smirked, "This jutsu has saved my life on numerous occasions!"
"Good evening, Lord Hokage." A new voice cut in. The trio turned to see Kakashi leading Sasuke into the ramen shop, "You too, Naruto!"
"Hey there, Kakashi-Sensei!" The blonde genin called out. He then saw Sasuke, "You brought Sasuke?"
Kakashi had a look of faux surprise, "Oh my, Sasuke, are you following me around like a stray cat?"
Sasuke didn't even dignify that with a response, "I see you're in one piece, Naruto."
"And why wouldn't I be, Sasuke?" The Uzumaki glared questioned.
Sasuke sent back his own glare, "I thought one of those frogs would crush you."
"Toads and at least I have a summoning contract!" Naruto shot back.
Sasuke wanted to argue more, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. Sarutobi was oddly reminded of Jiraiya and Sasuke when they were the same age, he didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. Kakashi, on the other hand, just wanted to enjoy a bowl of ramen without listening to his two students bicker, "Calm down you two."
It had been a couple hours since Sakura's talk with Kakashi, but her mind was still running. Needing to breathe she had left her house once again for a quick walk around the village. It didn't take long for her to come across Ramen Ichiraku. She stopped when she heard a familiar laugh coming from inside the ramen shop.
She walked in to see Naruto was back and eating his fifth bowl of ramen while Sasuke was right next to him slumping over his third bowl. The Hokage was there holding his sleeping grandson while he conversed with Kakashi, "What the hell is going on here?"
All four shinobi turned to see the pink haired kunoichi standing there, pissed off, "You guys decided to get dinner as a team?"
Kakashi stared wide eyed at his student. Cursing under his breath he invited her in, "I forgot, oops!" He nervously smiled at her, "Why don't you come in now and have a bowl with us."
Sakura didn't know what to do so she just decided to come in the shop without much of an argument, "When did you get back, Naruto?"
"A few hours ago, Sakura!' He told her excitedly, "Look at this!" He showed her the sash given by the toads.
"Toads, like the summons Lord Jiraiya use?" She was genuinely surprised.
Hiruzen decided that it was time to take his leave, "I think I'll call it a night!" The Hokage picked up his grandson then started to walk away, "Goodnight, Team Seven." With a slight bow he left. Sakura was even more surprised to see the leader of their village inside a common ramen shop.
"What was Lord Third doing here?" She asked.
Naruto spoke up with noodles still in his mouth, "Oh, gramps came here with me to hear about our mission and Konohamaru tagged along!"
"Don't talk with your mouth full, idiot!" Sakura's fist connected with the back of Naruto's head, "Why do you call Lord Hokage gramps anyways?"
Sasuke seemed to perk up a bit. Naruto on the other hand rubbed the back of his head, "He's always been gramps to me. Why change it now?" It seemed a bit odd that an outcast orphan would be close to the Hokage. Close to the Hokage, toads, it was a puzzle inside the Uchiha's brain that had been building since he had learned of the summoning contract that Naruto had received.
He wanted to learn just a little bit more, however decided not to, for now, at least, "Don't hit Naruto so hard, Sakura, he might what little brains he has left!" Sasuke joked, but at the same time it seemed to send a message to Sakura.
Naruto just growled, "Shut up, you bastard!"
The jonin's eye drooped a bit, "Not even reunited an hour and we're back to bickering." He said silently, although he had to admit he had grown use to this.
Sakura took a seat next to Sasuke with a small blush, "Sasuke, how was your day?"
"Good." Sasuke grumbled out.
The female genin sat down feeling a bit dejected from her crush's response. She ordered a bowl of salt ramen. Her attention turned to Naruto, "Hey, Naruto, I've always wondered why you keep saying you want to become the Hokage?"
Naruto turned to her with a smirk, "Because then people have to acknowledge me!"
"That's it?" She asked.
Naruto turned his attention away from his bowl of ramen to Sakura. He quietly smiled then turned away from her again, "Look at how many people love gramps, I want that."
It made sense, at least to Kakashi. An orphan with no idea of who his parents were and only two people that actually seemed to care for him in the village. The rest of the team seemed to quiet down with only sound coming from Naruto as he continued his assault on the noodles.
The tension was cut when the blonde genin finished his bowl of ramen and let out a giant burp, "Naruto, what have I told you about your manners!" The daughter of the owner of Ramen Ichiraku, Ayame, scolded Naruto.
Sakura internally wondered how many times that her teammate came to this ramen shop.
The night seemed to slow down as the genin went back to their bickering which evolved into the three of them trying to guess what the Forest of Death was like. Kakashi listened intently to them until they had decided to head home. The copy ninja was about to follow when he felt a hand grab his arm, "I hope you weren't about to leave without paying!" The good-natured ramen chef, Teuchi, was smiling at him.
"What?" Kakashi was handed a bill that had the price of thirteen bowls of ramen. Not only was he paying for himself and Sasuke, but also Sakura, Naruto, Konohamaru, and The Hokage, "But," He wanted to argue, however, he knew he couldn't. He handed the ramen chef a wad of ryo then left for his own home.
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Team Seven found themselves in front of the chain-link fence to the Forest of Death after a couple days of relaxation. The trees of the forest were huge, taller than any that could be found in Konoha, with a certain feeling of dread radiating from it. The shriek of some creature could be heard echoing through the forest.
All three had varying emotions just looking at the training ground. Naruto was antsy to get in there to start his training, Sasuke seemed unreadable, yet he gave of a sense of anticipation, and Sakura was a little scared, "What do you think that was?" Naruto finally asked his teammates.
"P-Probably just a bird!" Sakura nervously replied.
"That didn't sound like any bird I've ever heard." The Uchiha told the two.
Kakashi suddenly popped behind the genin of Team Seven, "That was probably one of the giant bugs."
All three screamed, though Sasuke would deny it, "What the hell, Kakashi-Sensei? Don't sneak up on people!" Naruto scolded his teacher. He wanted to slug the jonin, and Sakura seemed to agree with that sentiment.
The jonin looked down at his three students, "This is your last chance to back out now." The aura of determination that surrounded the genin gave Kakashi a bit of pride, "Once we go in there's no coming back for a month, are you brats ready?"
"Hell yeah, Sensei!" Naruto screamed. So sure, was he about this that he began to walk towards the training ground, leaving his team behind, "With this training I'm one step closer to being Hokage!"
'I'm one step closer to Itachi.' The Uchiha thought to himself.
Sakura glanced at her two teammates, 'Next time I won't be useless!'
The three passed through the gate, ready for anything to come.
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Team Seven had been walking for a hours when Kakashi signaled them to stop. Naruto furrowed his brow, about to ask why they had stopped, when they saw it. A bear the size of ten men lumbered past the team without a care in the world. If it noticed them, it didn't let on.
As soon as the large beast passed they continued on their way until they came upon a large tree root in the middle of a clearing. The way the root was positioned there was a small indent between said root and the cave, "Welcome to your home for the next month!" He knelt down to see if there was a sign that animals made their home here, "Sakura, begin setting up traps around this clearing. Naruto, I want you to create a few shadow clones and scout out the area, I want to know where the fresh water is. Sasuke, help me set up camp."
Another hour passed by and all three genin were sitting around their sensei, "For this month I will be teaching you independently for three weeks and the last week we will be integrating that training into team exercises, is that clear?" his students nodded, "Alright I brought you guys a gift!" He pulled out three sheets of paper, "Sakura, you're up."
"What do I do?" She asked her sensei.
"Just grab onto it and channel your chakra, the rest will be a surprise." He told her. Sakura nervously took the paper and began to channel her chakra into the paper. As she did the paper began to slowly crumble away, "Interesting, your chakra is aligned with the earth element."
Sakura excitedly let out a squeal, "That's really cool!"
"During the next three weeks we'll be starting to work with the earth element." He began to tell her, "I'll teach you a D-Rank jutsu and probably a genjutsu as well!" He turned his attention to Sasuke next.
Sasuke took the paper and, like Sakura before him, started to channel his chakra. Two thirds of the paper burnt to a crisp while the last third crinkled and cracked with electricity, "What does that mean?"
The silver haired jonin was surprised, "That means that you have a strong affinity for the fire element, but also a minor element for the lightning element!" Very interesting, "Since you already know how to work with the fire element, we'll be working on channeling your lightening element." He had a couple jutsu prepared to teach him.
Finally, it came to Naruto. Taking the paper in his hand the Uzumaki started to do the same as his teammates. It was much like Sakura's paper with just a single element, however, instead the paper crumbling it became soggy, "Water?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, which means we'll be working on your water element, and working out the kinks in your taijutsu, summoning jutsu, and working on that jutsu Lord Hokage gave you!" Kakashi told his blonde student, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Two copies of Kakashi appeared. One copy took Sakura into the woods, another took Naruto towards the source of water found earlier, and the original took Sasuke in the opposite direction of his other teammates, 'Time to begin!'