Naruto sighed as he locked his apartment. Today was the first day of team training, meaning that they probably had to do some D-rank missions, some bull shit team work drills, and then minimum training. Naruto turned, looking down the graffiti filled hallway that connected to his apartment. He really didn't feel like walking. So he decided to use one of the jutsu the mask had taught him.

Running through the hand seals, he whispered softly,"Shadow Skill: Shadow Walk Technique." He closed his eyes as he collapsed into his own shadow.

The training grounds weren't empty when Naruto appeared. Far from it actually, as the whole team watched in silent awe as Naruto stepped out of the shadow of a tree. Apparently, everyone else had taken it upon themselves to show up early and entertain themselves. Sasuke sat against a tree, brooding. Natsumi had been practicing taijutsu on a tree. Sakura had apparently been firing questions about missions and the like at Kurenai and Kushina. This all stopped when a pulse of chakra brought everyones attention to the tree that Naruto was seemingly spat out from.

Naruto completely ignored everyone except Sasuke, who was looking at him in greed,"Yes, Uchiha?"

"Teach me that jutsu."

"Impossible."

Sakura decided to take this chance to gain favor with her crush,"Naruto, do what Sasuke says! He dese-"

"Shut up, Harpy,"Naruto gave her a mild glare, before looking back at Sasuke," I can't teach you, because your elemental affinity would make it impossible for you to learn, unless you activate your Sharingan, and you haven't. However, I can give you a jutsu you can use."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He expected some resistance, but hey, he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. He did, however, have a question,"What does my affinity have to do with anything?"

Naruto chuckled,"Your affinity has everything to do with learning jutsu, Uchiha, for instance-"

"Ahem,"the gennin, who had previously been conversing, turned to look at Kurenai, who decided it was time to start the day,"that conversation can wait until later. Everyone, gather around."

Naruto nodded to Sasuke, sending the unspoken message.Later.

They all sat down in a semi-circle around the Jounin senseis, who stood over the students.

Kushina decided to begin,"As Gennin, you will be working in a team until it is decided, by exam or field promotion, that you will be promoted to Chunnin. Even then, you will continue to work as a team with other ninja, even if you should become Kage," on the word Kage, she looked directly at Natsumi.

Kurenai continued for her counterpart," As such, Konoha Gennin teams focus specifically on team work. As such, we have developed a specific training schedule for team meetings. Anything else, you can do on the side," she looked directly at Sasuke, then at Naruto. Both ignored her.

Kushina began again," We will be meeting from 7 am to 7 pm everyday for the known future. We will dividing training into 3 parts. For the first 4 hours of the day, we will work on physical training. This will be hard physical exercises until we start chakra manipulation. For the next 4 hours, we will be working on teamwork, with a lunch break somewhere in there. For the last 4 hours, we will either be sparring, or doing some basic missions. On some days, this schedule will change, but until then, we will be sticking to it for now."

Kurenai nodded," To begin, everyone run twice around the village. You have an hour."

Sakura's jaw dropped,"Wha-what! Sensei, you can't be serious!"

Kushina smiled,"I would start running, Sakura. Everyone is leaving you behind."

Sakura turned around, and saw that everyone had left her behind. She sprinted forward, hoping to catch up with the team.

After the run

Kushina looked over the Gennin, gauging their fatigue. Sakura looked absolutely terrible, leaning over with her hands on her knees, gasping and sputtering as her body was shaking.

Sasuke was better, standing straight with his hands on top of his head, his forehead covered by a light gloss of sweat. He was trying to calm his breathing, and while he was having a hard time, he was getting it under control.

Natsumi was breathing slightly harder than usual, and was bouncing on the balls of her feet trying to keep her muscles warm, with a little sweat on her face.

Naruto on the other hand, looked completely relaxed. He wasn't even breathing slightly harder than normal, acting as if he had just finished relaxing, not running around the village.

"Alright, everyone, go climb onto a low tree branch."

Within 2 minutes, they were all situated. Except for Sakura. She was struggling to get up the tree. After another 2 minutes, everyone was sitting on a tree branch.

"Now everyone, hang upside down by your legs."

Once again, Sakura was last into position, but everyone was ready soon.

"Now, I want 100 crunches."

Sakura, once again, began to protest,"Sensei, can't we take a break?"

"The next person who is uninjured and asks for a break will receive twice the exercises. We are ninja, and ninja don't complain. Now begin!" Kurenai, watching from the side, made a mental note to introduce the girl to Anko or Ibiki. That fan girl streak had to go.

The Gennin began to do their exercises. Sakura was going at the speed of a sloth, groaning and complaining the whole time. Sasuke was doing pretty good, moving at a consistent speed until he got to the 80 crunch. Narumi had started off burning through crunches, but slowed around 70 to Sasuke's speed. Naruto actually had kept pace with Narumi in the beginning, but had maintained that speed all the way.

It took about an hour and a half for them to all get done(coughSakuracough). Kurenai then lead the Gennin to a group of tree's that didn't have that many branches.

"Okay, today we will be climbing trees... without hands."

Sakura, the ever talkative complainer, whined out,"But that's impossible!"

Kurenai smiled, shaking her head, before turning around and demonstrating. She placed one foot on the tree, then another, walking up the tree as if it was a horizontal surface."All you have to do is focus your chakra onto the souls of your feet. Too much chakra, and the tree will explode. Too little, and you won't stick. Begin!"

Sakura, for once, started off at the head of the pack, her small chakra pools allowing her to easily stick to the tree. With a little concentration, she easily got to the top of the tree, looking around.

Sasuke and Narumi were having some issues climbing their trees, but were slowly getting it after being blown off a couple times.

Naruto just stood their, looking at the tree. Kurenai took this as a sign that he needed help.

"Do you need help with the exercise, Naruto?"

All the other Gennin turned to look at the one among them that couldn't get up the tree.

Naruto chuckled, it sounding evil through the mask. He walked up to the tree, backwards, and stepped back, walking up the tree, backwards. He didn't even bother sitting on the branch, gluing his back to the tree using chakra after removing his scepter.

The Jounnin looked up at their students, smiling. Kurenai began explained the rest of the exercise,"Okay, now keep walking up and down that tree for the next hour, or until you run out of chakra. Go!"

Sakura soon resumed her place at the bottom of the pack, running out of chakra after 6 more attempts to run up the tree. Sasuke made another 17 runs before he was on his hands and knees. By the time the hour was up, only Naruto wasn't breathing hard, but he did seem to be winded now.

Kushina looked over her students, before sighing,"Okay people, take a break, drink some water. Your going to need your energy for the team work exercises."

All the students went and sat down in the shade, Naruto seemingly becoming one with the shadows, the only proof he was actually their was his mask. Sasuke decided to get some answers to his questions from earlier.

"Naruto," the mask turned to him, the eyes glowing lightly,"what were you saying about my elemental affinity earlier?"

"Ah, yes. You see Sasuke, there are 5 basic affinities that combine to make fusion, or special affinities. There are other affinities that are completely separate, but you don't have any of those, so it doesn't matter any way. From what I can see from your chakra, you have affinities for fire and lightning. This may later combine into blaze release, as Uchiha's have been known to be able to use blaze release. When, or if you get the Mangekyou Sharingan, you will have a stronger than average Amaterasu."

Sasuke's eyes were wide, as were Sakura's, and Narumi's, and Kushina's, and Kurenai's... everyone had wide eyes, okay!"You can tell all of that from my chakra?"

Naruto smirked under his mask,"I know everyone's affinities, Sasuke."

Sakura decided to speak up,"Ca-can you tell me my affinity Naruto?"

Naruto looked at her, like he was considering saying no,"Earth with a minor affinity for water. Do yourself a favor, though. Become a medic."

Sakura raised an eyebrow,"Why a medic-nin?"

"You currently have about as much chakra as a student in the Academy, not a Gennin. If we continue to do chakra control exercises, by the time you reach C-rank missions, you should have perfect, or near perfect chakra control, which would be perfect for a medic nin's profession, not necessarily for front line chakra intensive battles. If you were to fight someone head on, like me perhaps," a cruel chuckle came from under his mask,"you would be easily liberated of your life."

Sakura paled slightly at the thought of death.

"Alright, break over everyone."

Soon, all the Gennin once again stood in front of their sensei's.

"Today, we will be building trust between the 4 of you. So you must complete the easiest team work exercise we can come up with. The trust fall. So, who's first?" Kushina clasped her hands in front of her.

All of the Gennin stepped back, except for Sakura.

10 minutes later

"Okay Sakura! Just fall back, and someone will catch you!" Kurenai called to the Gennin, who was in a tree 20 feet off of the ground.

"Are you sure about this!?"

"Yes, just fall, and your team mates will catch you!"

The thought of Sasuke catching her gave her courage as she leaned back and allowed herself to fall... straight into the ground.

"Uh,... wasn't she supposed to fall this way?" Narumi asked as she looked down on the girl from the other side of the tree.

"Maybe we should do something else..."

10 minutes later

"Okay, so after a little discussion, Kushina and I have decided that today, we will combine teamwork and justu training,"Kurenai began.

Sakura raised her hand,"I thought we would be learning jutsu later?"

"We were going to,"Kushina scratched the back of her head sheepishly,"but we don't know any good exercises."

"So, you all will each demonstrate one jutsu you know, and then you will explain how that jutsu is helpful or harmful to the team." Kurenai finished explaining the activity."Sasuke, your up!"

Sasuke walked in front of the group, zooming through hand seals at above average speeds, before calling out,"Fire Style: Grand Fire Ball Technique!" A medium sized fire ball flew out onto the training field, setting a tree on fire. Sasuke turned to the group,"This is a good jutsu for the team because it is long range, and if it doesn't make contact, distracts the opponent long enough for one of my team mates to sneak in and attack at close range."

"Good! Next up, Natsumi!"

Natsumi went up, making one handseal, saying calmly,"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough." A harsh wind rolled in a wave from Natsumi, spreading through the clearing and cutting into a few trees. She turned to the group,"This jutsu would push enemies away so the group could have a breather. Combined with a fire style move, it would become a deadly wall of fire."

"Good! Alright Sakura, you next."

Sakura walked up, and preformed a basic bushin,"This jutsu could be used as a distraction while the team sets up an ambush for the enemy."

"Okay. Naruto step up."

Naruto stood from his sitting position. Going through a few hand seals, he said,"Shadow Skill: Needle Salvo." He raised a hand, and in front of it, a black sebon shaped object appeared. He thrust his hand forward, and as soon as he did, the needle began to multiply rapidly, until several hundred thousand needles made a wall in front of him, before launching at high speed into the clearing. Needless to say, needles soon stuck out of everything.

The boy turned, speaking in a bored tone,"This jutsu is meant to slow down any large force of people, which would allow my team mates to prepare an attack strategy."

Now, for the next hour, jutsu were thrown around the clearing, but due to the author being lazy as fuck, he decided to just make a list and explain the jutsu.

Sasuke:

Fire Style: Flamethrower Technique: Placing hands out stretched in front of them, the user sends out a stream of fire from each palm, which can last as long as the user has chakra. When used by Sasuke, the jutsu lasts about 15 seconds, and tires him out significantly. Low mastery.

Fire Style: Pheonix Flower Technique: User exhales a large amount of small fire balls, which usually explode on contact, causing more damage. Used by Sasuke, it can produce anywhere between 8 and 20 explosive fire balls.

Fire Style: Great Fire Ball Technique: Known by the whole Uchiha clan, or what's left of it, this technique launches a large fireball. Self explanatory.

Natsumi:

Wind Release: Air Bullet Technique: Launches a single high powered bullet made of air that gets weaker over a distance, or a volley of multiple weaker bullets that degrade in strength over a distance. Natsumi can use either function.

Chakra Chains: Creates nye unbreakable chains made of chakra. Natsumi's are blue, and can extend up to 40 feet before they start to lose strength and become brittle.

Rasengan: Creates a ball of spiraling chakra within the palm of your hand. Natsumi can also use the Choodama Rasengan, which is 10 times the size or bigger than the original.

Sakura... knows nothing not taught in the academy.

Naruto:

Poison Release: Time Frame: Fires a single needle like projectile at such speed that it is impossible to dodge. Kills within 2 minutes, leaving no trace of poison, unless user decides otherwise. After 2 minutes, puts host under extreme bodily and mental stress, to the point of insanity or death.

Soul Style: Life Drain: Drains the life from target, literally aging them. Converts stolen life force into chakra that the jutsu caster can absorb.

Poison Release: Toxic Breath: Causes user to exhale a cloud of poison, which burns through anything it touches like acid.

"Alright, that's enough of jutsu demonstration. Now,"Kushina clasped her hands together, smiling,"whose ready for missions?"

7 pm that evening

"Alrighty, team! Great job busting out 4 missions today," came the joyous voice of Kurenai."Let's keep this up for the rest of our time together!"

The team, except Naruto, groaned. They had spent the last precious hours of their day doing chores. Pulling out weeds from the field, painting a house, getting groceries for an elderly woman, and worst of all, catching the hell spawn, Tora.

"Alright, your all excused, except for Naruto and Natsumi,"as Sakura and Sasuke walked towards their respective houses(which put Sakura in position to ask Sasuke out and then get denied), Kushina turned to her kids,"meet me in the Hokages office as soon as possible." Kushina put her hand on Natsumi's shoulder and shunshined away, leving Kurenai to walk towards her apartment and Naruto to melt into the shadow of a tree.

Hokage's office

As Naruto steeped out a shadowed corner of the room, he saw MInato sitting behind his desk, Hiruzen next to him, Kushina on Minato's other side, and Natsumi next to Kushina, What surprised him was seeing his land lord, Mr. Lee, standing off to the side. Mr. Lee was a simple older man with gray hair, glasses, a goatee, and lightly tanned skin. He was wearing a simple green kimono and some black pants, leaning slightly on his oak cane.

Everyone looked at Naruto as he stepped out of the shadow. Naruto raised an eyebrow,"What is this, some sort of intervention?"

Minato spoke up,"Naruto, considering we have returned, we figured it would be beneficial for you to move in with me, your mother, and your sister at the clan compound. As such, you will no longer be given an orphan's stipend, and you will no longer live at Mr. Lee's."

Naruto stood silent, contemplating his options as everyone looked at him. He turned to Mr. Lee,"Mr. Lee, how much would it cost to stay at my current place of resid- no. HOw much would it cost to move to one of the more... livable spaces?"

Mr. Lee got the secret meaning in his words. By livable, he meant larger, better furnished, and not infested with various pests." Uh... I could do about... 800 ryo a month."

Naruto nodded, finding this reasonable,"Great. You'll get your rent. I'll move in later this week." He turned to his "family","This meeting is over." And with that, he stepped into the shadow he just came out of, disappearing.

Red Light District

Naruto was walking through the red light district, ignoring the drunks, the prostitutes, and the scam artists he saw on the way towards his apartment. Suddenly, there was a commotion from a nearby alley, that he went to investigate. He found 3 men crowding a seemingly drunk woman, reaching out to touch her, only for her to attempt to fight back. Naruto melded into a shadow , intent on stopping this before anything could happen.

Anko PoV

Anko was having a bad day. She hadn't been able to get anything above a C-rank mission at the missions office, she hadn't gotten any new "patients" at the Torture and Interrogation Department, and Ibiki was busting her ass about some reports she hadn't filed. After work she had went to get drunk, but after her thirty third drink felt sluggish, and went to walk home. She was then hemmed up in an alley by 3 civilians, all ex ninja at least twice her age, who were trying to get some in the alley.

"Come on, whore, just help us get our fun for the night," said one on the right, attempting to reach for her breasts. Anko, however, was able to lightly slap his hand away.

The man in the middle growled, obviously tired of this."Hold her down, boys. I'm taking what I want. Anko was soon pinned by her arms to the wall, her legs spread, and her mini-skirt lifted, revealing her orange thong. The man began to reach for it... only to gasp in pain and surprise, looking down to find a blade in his stomach from behind. The other two couldn't even react as a black kunai with a green glowing edge went into each of their throats, disappearing as the bodies fell to the ground.

Anko fell to the ground, before a hand was put on her shoulder. She looked up, and could only see a white skull like mask and green glowing eyes."You good?"

Anko only nodded dumbly. The mask nodded, before it whispered"Poison Release: Extraction". Anko felt liquid crawl up her throat and out her mouth, not knowing it was pure alcohol, before passing out.

The last thing she remembered before she woke up in her apartment the next morning was,"Your welcome."