A/N – Another chapter written and I'm quite proud of it. Ripples start to get out of control and a certain snake might get a bit skewered in the forest...

o-0-o

Kakashi watched his blonde student wobble on the surface of the water and allowed himself a smile. It was far from the desired result, but far better than the lack of skill some shinobi displayed. It also showed that perhaps for once he wasn't overestimating capabilities of his student.

A loud yelp, followed by the sound of splashing water corrected Kakashi's estimations. That last feat was an effect of luck and Kami being merciful. Not skill. However it was still a progress and Kakashi hoped that in a week or so Naruto would figure it out.

"With that done," Kakashi mused as he rubbed his chin, his eye not focused on Icha Icha, but on his student for once. "Perhaps I should teach him Rasengan. He is possibly the only one of my students that can safely use it. And he is a son of Minato-sensei."

Kakashi looked at the soaked form of Naruto that emerged from the stream and eye-smiled at him. "Ten more minutes and you are free for today," he called out, only for his student to nod and once again try to stay on the surface.

"He is more stubborn than I thought," Kakashi said and looked at the sun that was slowly moving across the horizon. "But that's not the worst trait to have. And for once he didn't complain about it being boring... Strange."

The last ten minutes passed uneventfully and excluding few times when Naruto took a bath Kakashi read his book almost undisturbed. The moment his student was gone he pocketed the book and returned to the Memorial Stone to pay his respects. Only to find the Hokage there, seemingly waiting for him.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi said respectfully and the aged leader nodded at him.

"How is Naruto-kun, Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked at the Hokage with a raised eyebrow. He never expected this amount of interest from the Hokage. Unless suddenly Hiruzen remembered who was kid's father. "He has potential," Kakashi grounded out after few moments. "The potential and drive to maybe even surpass Minato."

"You realize that the more he becomes powerful the stronger the resemblance will be?"

"I know, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said and frowned. "I didn't have an opportunity to take a good look in the vault, but is there a chance that some Uzumaki clan clothing would be stored there?"

Kakashi could see some mirth in the eyes of the Hokage. Mirth and at the same time shrewness he rarely saw. "If he looks like Uzumaki the people will think that he is an Uzumaki," the Hokage said and chuckled. "I don't think that most of the spies are that idiotic to be fooled by this."

"I wouldn't be surprised, Hokage-sama. However, I want to give him something that would let him discard the kill me clothes he wears now. Not to mention, he needs more ties to his clan and the past that isn't tied to the village. Well, not to the village he knows, but the village we ought to have been to him."

Hiruzen hummed quietly, the gaze of his eyes focused on the memorial stone, but then he slowly nodded. "Very well, I will have several of the ANBU search the vault," he said after a moment. "When Mito-sama came to Konoha, she brought with herself several members of her clan so there should be something that could be useful."

Kakashi nodded and focused his gaze on the Stone. "Hokage-sama, do you know when Jiraiya-sama will be in Konoha?"

"Once he fulfills his mission. I cannot tell you more, Kakashi. Too much depends on it."

Kakashi conceded here as he knew that they weren't alone and him trying to press the point meant a meeting with the four ANBU hidden around the stone. Well, he only saw four, while there were usually twice as many around any Kage at all times.

"Leave us," the Hokage murmured and his shadows disappeared. "The ANBU is filled with spies and Ibiki is eliminating them. Tonight."

"I noticed that some were skittish earlier today," Kakashi said and mused. "It reminded me of a prey discovered in its hiding spot by a very hungry predator."

The Hokage chuckled at this, making Kakashi arch an eyebrow. "Nothing, Kakashi-kun. You're dismissed."

o-0-o

Anko nimbly landed in front of Sakura's home and then looked at her cute student. Cute and innocent student that was so unaware of how dark and grim the world of shinobi could be. And still thought that the world was mostly black and white, and not full of the shades of gray and darkness it truly was.

Anko was more than painfully aware of it, but that was the boon of being an apprentice of Orochimaru. She still appreciated him for the things she learned from him, but he was not the holiest of men and his methods were ruthless and cold and that made her see the world as an ugly and dangerous place much sooner than most of her peers.

Possibly it was also a thing that made her be more acutely aware of the dangers that came with their job and what saved her from more than a single attempt on her life. Anko shook her head discreetly and cut that thought short. She didn't need to brood on how many people wanted her dead because of the contract she signed. At least thanks to being in the higher echelons of ANBU she could persecute them however she wished to, legal aspects be damned.

"Anko-sensei?" Sakura asked quietly and the girl's voice snapped the snake summoner out of her musings.

"Nothing, Sakura," Anko said and indicated the door. "You come first, pinky."

"My name is Sakura," Sakura huffed, glaring at her sensei. "Not pinky."

Anko smiled and nudged the girl, at the same time watching her behavior very carefully. She wondered how much she could glean from Sakura's behavior. The girl tensed and slowly moved to the door, as if Anko was a far bigger threat than her parents or as if she was scared of what her parents would think if they saw Anko.

Sakura nodded and opened the door before shouting. "Kaa-san! Tou-san!"

Anko stepped inside, not bothering herself with politeness and kindness. She was a shinobi and didn't need to bother with being nice or friendly. She could be more refined, but most of civilians didn't need it. They wanted her gone as fast as possible and with as little noise as possible, allowing them to return to their normal and average lives. Without shinobi issues thrown at them.

Sakura's parents came and Anko didn't bothered them with much attention. They were civilians that had almost no chakra, every being had the chakra, but only ninja had any worthwhile amounts. The amounts the civilians had, were close to none and more importantly they couldn't mold it. Making them almost nonexistent threat for any ninja that could kill them with a singer finger.

"Who are you?" Sakura's mother asked without any formalities. "And more importantly, what are you doing in my house?"

"I'm temporary sensei of Sakura," Anko said and smiled. "And since her permanent one didn't deign to show up and explain to you several important things that we usually explain to parents of new genin... Well, I'm here and you will listen to me."

"Or what?"

"Nothing," Anko said and allowed herself a wide smile. "You see, Hokage-sama, is a wise leader and thinks it's... appropriate. Yes, that's the word, for the jonin-sensei of the teams to make the civilian parents of genin aware of certain things that can happen in our field of work. You can kick me out and that's your right, but I suggest that you listen to me."

"Fine," Sakura's mother grounded out. She looked at her husband and after a nod from him smile more warmly. "We will listen."

Anko smiled at this. The gesture more genuine and honest than the previous wide smile that was akin to a snake smiling. "Very well, Haruno-san," Anko said and paused for a moment. Considering how much she should reveal. Knowledge was a precious bargaining chip and one that wasn't cheap. "I'm Mitarashi Anko, tokubetsu jonin of Konohagakure no Sato, where do I work or what do I do? That's classified and you don't need to know it."

"Why, Mitarashi-san?" Sakura's father asked as he indicated for her to go into what looked like a living room.

"I'll be blunt," Anko said and looked at Sakura. "That will be a useful lesson for you to." Then she looked at Sakura's parents. "In the last six months ten people tried to murder me. Tried as in I managed to caught them in the act or I was told about them. I wouldn't be surprised if twice as many attempts were dismantled by the counter-intelligence cells of our village and I didn't know about them." At this Sakura's eyes widened perhaps even more than that of her parents. "I'm an extreme case because of what I do and how hated by some very influential people I am. Usually a ninja avoids most of the assassins or never knows about them because they get caught before they have a chance to do anything."

"Very well," Sakura's father conceded. "I used to live in the capitol and I can say when one is lying to me. Yet you seem to be honest."

"I didn't omit many facts," Anko said with a smile and looked at Sakura. "Considering the Team Sakura was placed on, I think she might be a magnet for troubles." At those words Sakura stiffened, making Anko only chuckle. "I don't mean you, nor your teammates really. The Team Seven is kinda special."

"What do you mean, ninja-san?"

Anko smiled at this and looked at Sakura's parents. "Let's see. Two Hokage, the Sannin are the most famous ninja that were once a part of this team," Anko said and grinned. "Enough said that if you are placed on this team, the higher ups think that you are destined for greatness or are a worthy investment." Anko paused for a second and then smiled. "However, that's less of a reason why I am here."

"So what is it?" Sakura's mother asked after a moment.

"The future training of Sakura," Anko said and allowed herself a predatory smile. "I was asked by her nominal sensei to train her and since the life of shinobi is harsh and unforgiving I will push her as hard as my sensei did when I was his student." She considered her words for a second and then nodded. "Yes, that sums up what I plan to do. She has the potential and just needs a shove in the right direction."

"What do you mean, Anko-sensei?" Sakura asked, some fear in her voice.

"That you need as much training as you can manage," Anko said flatly. "For reasons way above even my pay grade, the higher ups want you compete in the next chunin exam. I think that you can pass, you just need enough training so that you know what you need to know."

"Do you think that our daughter is ready for the exams?" Sakura's parents asked as one, making Anko chuckle a bit.

"I think she will be when they will come around in six months," Anko said and grinned. "I will be damned if she isn't ready by then. I can make her ready and will make her ready." What it involved was not for their ears so Anko didn't bother mentioning anything about it. "She needs hard work, determination and diligence, but if she has all of that, she will be a chunin after the exams."

"Thank you, Mitarashi-san," Sakura's mother said. "We never expected someone to care so much about the education and training of our only child."

"I only do my duty," Anko said before getting up and slipping out of the house. Only to be met by an ANBU. "What?" she asked with a hiss.

"Ibiki-taichou wants you to interrogate someone," the ANBU said and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Making Anko want to curse the coward, not that she blamed him. Her rage wasn't homicidal, that was the specialty of Hatake. Hers was more painful and drawn out.

At least a prospect of having fun brightened her mood and made her a bit giddy even. If Ibiki wanted her to make whoever it was talk, they would be stubborn as hell and had an interesting amount of resistance to pain.

o-0-o

Ibiki looked at the drawn up plans of the chunin exam and winced. Because of the current politician machinations that were above his pay grade he needed to change the bloody thing. He sighed and glared at Shikaku who looked as bored as ever. That trait of Nara, to look bored and sleepy when a thunderstorm was setting alight their house was pissing off.

"Why did you suddenly pay interest to the exams, Shikaku?" Ibiki asked without any pleasantries or false kindness. "You normally don't pay any attention whatsoever."

"Because of reasons that are too troublesome to tell," Shikaku said and grimaced. "They include the ANBU you caught and the agents Inoichi is having a chat with."

"And that warrants that you not take your usual nap and instead descend into the pits of the T&I to plan the next chunin exam?" Ibiki snorted. "I didn't know you as a kind and outgoing being."

Shikaku rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. "It is not everyday that every foreign village plots against you," he said and looked at Ibiki as shadows around them became awake. "Cut the crap, Ibiki. I have an appointment with the Hokage in the next four hours and want to tell him something more than we're still finding where our asses are."

"It's not every village," Ibiki corrected him. "Kiri is sensing us for an alliance, Kumo is Kumo and Iwa sits on its ass. Far away and out of the way of any future conflict we might have with our neighbors."

"Which leaves Suna, Ame, Taki, Kusa and Oto," Shikaku said, counting the villages with his fingers. "Five villages, against one. Those aren't great odds. They're still not terrible, but not great, either."

"Third war was worse," Ibiki said. "We had seven villages to deal with."

"Five of which were demolished when they killed Uzu," Shikaku said with a wince.

"So what do you plan to do?" Ibiki asked with an impish smile that could fool many, yet Shikaku was not one of them. "You are a Nara, a freaking genius that has a plan and a scheme when he needs it."

"Do a stupid thing," Shikaku said and grinned. "Invite Iwa, Kumo and Kiri to the exams. Have them send as many teams as we can bribe them to send. The more ninja from other villages are at home, the less likely they are to do something stupid out of the fear of doing something that can kill other foreign shinobi."

"We planned what?" Ibiki murmured as he reached for one scroll. "Fifty teams give or take five."

"Most of which would be ours," Shikaku said and pursed his lips, making the scars covering his head even more pronounced. "I was thinking invite twenty teams from each of the other major villages. Ten from each of the minor ones and perhaps sixty teams from our forces."

"Sixty teams? We don't have that many of the elite teams in rotation for that. We would need to send some of our cannon fodder into the exam and we do not send them in because of what they are."

"And they're the currency we need to pay to dismantle most of the political mess we're faced," Shikaku said and snorted. "If someone is planning something big, they will carry it out in the last phase, but they might do something stupid sooner."

"And clan heirs will all be taking part in it," Ibiki said and grimaced. "I don't want to be the paranoid one, more than usually. But if I wanted to cause problems, it would be during the second stage when we have the heirs without any ANBU handy to keep assassins away... Especially if we invite Kumo."

"Hyuuga Incident."

"And their general hunger for bloodlines. It wouldn't be last them to seduce say our last Uchiha and make him run away with them. Stranger things happened in the past."

Shikaku rubbed his chin and looked at the map of the Forest of Death. The usual venue of the second stage. "Do we have something else that's maybe even more deadly or can be made deadly?"

"Probably one of the ANBU playgrounds," Ibiki said and shrugged. "Some of them are mazes of canyons full of traps, poisonous and venomous animals and plants and we could rig them with dozens more of traps."

"That is an idea," Shikaku said and frowned. "I want something which we can contain and watch easily if need be. The Forest of Death is hard to check for troubles if we need to and we need to rely on cameras for too much of the coverage."

"I could probably find a drug to spray there to make the participants very talkative and angry," Ibiki said and Shikaku looked at him. "The T&I has many tools we don't advertise to the outside world. Sometimes an angry person has a very loose tongue and if we are right about it, we will have a great number of moles to catch."

"The Daimyo would need to be consulted," Shikaku said with a frown. "One thing is to have a slaughter at the exams. That's a norm accepted by all. Having us knowingly poison the genin so that they spill the secrets of their villages is a bit too dicey. Even if it can work."

Ibiki frowned and nodded. "I suppose I could be more secretive about it," he said and smiled. "There are ways to poison ones we think are interesting. Like one eternal genin that has been recently seen close to the Archives."

Shikaku's eyes widened at this, he didn't dare to say the next words as even if the headquarters of the T&I was proof against most forms of spying and nobody should know that he had a meeting here... Now, he was starting to get a bit paranoid.

"So far we have nothing on him," Ibiki said and growled. The noise putting Shikaku on edge, seeing the torture master, err, interrogator, so on edge was rare. He was always composed, loud and unfiltered at times, but calm. "And most of the ANBU that is clear is doing more important things."

"Great," Shikaku said and snorted. "Tell me that no more skeletons fell out of Danzo's closet."

"As far as I know he only talked with the advisors about Hiruzen eliminating his spies. And they said that they would talk with our esteemed Hokage. Not that I predict them much in terms of a success. More like another humiliation."

Ibiki nodded and then turned his attention back to the plans of the exam. "I will have everything done by the end of the week," he said and then smiled. "And probably even the most experienced genin will run away from the exam once they see the hell I can come up with. You know, our internal jonin exam could be scheduled at the same time and at the same place."

Shikaku paled at this and gave Ibiki the best expression of annoyance a Nara could muster that wasn't in any way influenced by boredom. "You want to cause an international incident?"

o-0-o

Hiruzen sighed and contemplated slapping his advisors across the room. He was very curious what dirty secrets made them come to his office and demand that he stops the investigation done by Ibiki.

"No," he said and seeing their looks of shock allowed himself a smile. "Ibiki has my full trust and I see no reason to tell him to stop. In fact, his investigation already found several holes in our security protocols." At this the advisors gaped like fish and Hiruzen only mentally chuckled. "Koharu, Homura, tell me, what did Danzo do to make you come to my office and demand that I stop that investigation?"

"We're just worried for the safety of Konoha," Homura said and Hiruzen arched an eyebrow in question. "A number of ANBU has been arrested and quite a few went missing-"

"Because of security reasons," Hiruzen finished for his advisor. "I trust you, I really do. But somehow Danzo learns of everything that happens when you two are around." He paused and looked at them. "Do you serve the Hokage or our former teammate?"

They looked between each other and then at him. Unsure what to do or how to even respond to that very obvious accusation of treachery.

"Leave this office," he said and closed his eyes for a second. "Come in two days with an answer that will satisfy me. I am willing to give you a second chance, but the moment you stab me in the back... Ibiki is waiting and he mentioned that he would love to play his mind games with you."

Before he finished that sentence the advisors were gone. The only sign of their presence a disturbance in the air from a very quick and rapid shunshin. Good, they didn't forget that they are ninja, Hokage mused and looked at the village. It seemed that there was more to Danzo than he ever estimated.

If he panicked so soon and made Koharu and Homura try to step in and put a stop to the investigation there really needed to be more to it. Hiruzen was aware that Danzo was working in the shadows, but he expected his former teammate to be maybe more skilled and less obvious than that. He sighed and shook his head before returning back to the paperwork.

o-0-o

Sasuke flashed through the handseals and didn't even call out the name of jutsu before expelling another ball of fire. The training with Yamato-sensei was far less forgiving than Kakashi-sensei ever was and he was even more demanding than the silver-haired jonin.

"Good enough," Yamato called out and Sasuke wanted to spit onto the jonin for that comment. That guy didn't know when enough was enough and when the exercise was a torture and not an exercise. "You improved, Sasuke."

"I needed," Sasuke shot back. "You're trying to kill me every single day and night I train with you."

Yamato shrugged and tossed a bokken, a wooden training sword used for kenjutsu training. "You want to defeat Itachi, kenjutsu is a thing you need to master," Yamato simply stated and reached for another.

Sasuke groaned, his pained muscles calling for rest and a period to regenerate, but then he pushed past their instincts and moved. Each second making him feel his whole body as if it was on fire.

He blocked the first strike. The clash of wood on wood sending tremors down his whole arm as the world exploded into stars. For the second he didn't have the energy to muster to lift his sword and stop the wood from smashing into his side and cracking a rib.

He let out a feeble sigh and dropped onto the ground. A pained expression on his face before the darkness came and claimed him.

o-0-o

Naruto carefully balanced on the water, the chakra flowing from his feet in random and unpredictable bursts. It wasn't even conscious decision at this point. Just one done on its own by the body as it kept him on the surface and prevented from taking a dive and finding himself all wet.

He let out a shout of joy and jumped. Barely managing to stay on the surface as he landed. "Yatta! I did it!"

"Good job, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei said and eye-smiled. "Do you want to learn a jutsu developed by your father?"

At this Naruto immediately became serious and looked at his sensei. "What jutsu?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowed and none of the usual joy visible in them.

Kakashi eye-smiled and then extended his hand. A ball of pure chakra growing rapidly above his palm. "Rasengan," he said and paused for a second. "Sensei wanted to add elemental manipulation to it, but never had a chance before dying. Chidori and Raikiri that I developed were my attempts at finishing the jutsu. In this form it is still potent enough." Kakashi rammed his hand into a training post nearby and splinters flew in every single direction. "What it did to this post is a mercy compared to what it can do to human flesh."

Naruto gulped and nodded. In front of his mind flashing a scene of a human ramming that swirling ball of destruction into an exposed side of a human target.

"Yes," Kakashi nodded grimly. "That's why you won't ever use it against a fellow Konoha shinobi. Never. This is not a weapon you can use on a fellow ninja, even in a spar."

Naruto nodded glumly and Kakashi ruffled his hair before tossing him a bag of balloons. And at the confused look on his student's face he only laughed.

"That's the first step of learning the jutsu," Kakashi explained patiently. "As you saw, there are no handseals. Just chakra and shape of a sphere. You fill the balloons with water and try to make the water inside so chaotic that it pops the rubber. However, that is something you will do later on."

"Why?"

Kakashi smirked under his mask and Naruto wanted to punch him in the gutt and wipe that smirk off his face. "History lesson time," Kakashi said cheerfully. "You know that the Kage Bunshin makes a solid copy of yourself, right?" Naruto nodded energetically. "Now tell me, what can be so special about it that it is used as a scouting tool? Assuming that one using them has the necessary chakra."

Naruto frowned as he tried to remember that time when he had the Forbidden Scroll in his hands. There was something strangely familiar ringing inside of his mind and then his eyes widened. "The memories of the clone pass onto the original?"

"Yes, but they come with a drawback. The more clones you use, the bigger the drawback and I wouldn't suggest using more than two or three at times. The memories rushing into your mind take a time to be understood and too many at once can be overwhelming. You are an Uzumaki and that means that killing you is troublesome, but even you have some limits and you didn't mature enough to reap the full benefits."

"So if I use too many clones at once I'll suffer from a massive headache afterwards?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"Or just knock yourself out," Kakashi said with a sigh. "It just depends on you and how strongly you react. Some people get knocked out. Some just have a migraine kind of a headache for few hours."

Naruto nodded and then grinned. "This still means I can use three or so clones to learn Rasengan, while you teach me something else?"

Kakashi was speechless and his jaw almost dropped in shock. Who would think that this kid could get so smart so quickly if he was just nurtured and prodded in the right direction. "I will teach you something else," he said after a moment. "Well, more of make you trigger something as Kekkei Genkai vary by clan and I don't know how to make your pop out."

"Huh?"

"Even if I saw your mother use the bloody chains, I don't have an idea how did she activated them," Kakashi explained with a sigh. "I know how they're supposed to look. I know their purpose, but I don't know how they're triggered. I think it is related to how well you shape and control your chakra. But that is just a theory and since we don't have an Uzumaki handy, this is the best we have now."

Naruto nodded and made three clones that he sent away to do that utterly boring and frustrating thing with the balloons. Only to discover that the training with Kakashi wasn't much more entertaining as it mostly involved meditation and shaping his chakra into something that resembled a chain. It was grueling, cruel and unpleasant and far more boring than Naruto anticipated.

"Don't be so glum," Kakashi said with an eye-smile. "We still have five months and three weeks before the training ends. You don't need to manifest or even master your Kekkei Genkai in that time."

Naruto let out a frustrated grunt and shoved his hand forward. It was a move driven by anger and a strange instinct that told him it was the right thing to do. A beam of blue and gold chakra shot out, barely missed Kakashi-sensei and stopped inside of a tree, behind him. "Is that it?" Naruto asked with a goofy smile.

"Y-yes," Kakashi stammered as he eyed a chain that could have very easily pierced him. "That's what I wanted to see. Your parents would have been proud of you, Naruto."

Naruto beamed with pride and yanked his hand back. The chain ripped itself out of the tree in a shower of splinters and returned into his hand. Each of the links inscribed with strange glyphs and symbols and the tip shaped like a tip of a kunai, albeit with three prongs.

"Try to do it once again," Kakashi said and eye-smiled. "But don't skewer me, Konoha Shinobi Insurance policy doesn't cover getting skewered by massive chakra constructs."

"Does any village actually have chakra construct Kekkei Genkai accidents insurance?" Naruto asked, trying his best to stifle the laughter.

"Not anymore," Kakashi said and paused. "Kiri and Iwa have. Apparently they still have fresh memory of being skewered."

Naruto laughed at the poor joke and focused on the same sensation he felt when the chain erupted out of his hand. He pointed his hand at a rock away from Kakashi and willed for the chain to shoot out. It did it and smashed into the rock, breaking it into hundreds of dangerously sharp shards.

And after that Naruto's knees gave up under him and he smashed onto the ground. His body exhausted by the awakening of his Kekkei Genkai and the strain it put on the chakra coils. In a couple of years he would be able to manipulate several chains at once, but now all he could muster was a single one for several brief moments before passing out from the exhaustion and the strain put on his body.

o-0-o

A/N – Yep, Naruto finally unlocked those nasty chains and the tip says a lot about his father. Not that he needs more hints to put the pieces together and look at a certain monument that he sees everyday.

As for Rasengan, Kakashi sucks in Wind jutsu and he needs shape manipulation for something he has in mind, so...

Yes, chunin exam will be bloody, maybe even more than Ibiki anticipates them to be...