Konoha had gotten quieter after Naruto had left. Sakura was surprised about how that loudmouth of a ninja brought so much life to the place. At least it would make training easier, hopefully. Sakura rapped at Tsunade's door and waited. She heard footsteps and turned.

A woman with short black hair walked by, carrying a large pile of books and scrolls. "Excuse me," Sakura started. "Is the Hokage in there?" The woman looked up and down at Sakura and lastly fixated on her hair. Her eyes squinted as her mind whirred to put a name to the face. Finally, a look of realization.

"You're Sakura Haruno aren't you?" Sakura nodded. "Lady Tsunade is in a meeting with the Council, so she can't teach you anything now. But, she did tell me to give you these." The woman gave Sakura the pile of reading material. Sakura's arms groaned in protest.

"What are these?"

"Chakra control exercises and diagrams of the human body. Lady Tsunade wants you to have all of these memorized two weeks from now." The woman smiled and Sakura had no choice but to weakly smile back.

"Thank you…"


"Come on Pervy Sage! When am I going to learn something?" Naruto said.

Jiraiya turned to look at Naruto. "Soon. We need to go meet up with someone first."

"Why?"

Jiraiya thought back to how he had gotten Naruto to come with him the last time. "I'll teach you a jutsu stronger than the Chidori." "He can help teach you how to do a better Rasengan."

Naruto gave the sage a stupid look. "Why can't you help me?"

"Why do you have to be so difficult? I'll explain more when we meet him."


Sasuke rolled up another scroll and threw it behind him onto an ever-growing pile. The books had taught him nothing he already knew. He knew that the Mangekyou Sharingan appeared after three tomoe had formed in the original Sharingan. He knew it provided the Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi jutsu. Ke knew it was a rare occurrence to gain a Mangekyou.

Wordlessly, Sasuke grabbed another book and stared at it. There was no writing upon the cover and the stench of old age radiated from it. Intrigued, Sasuke opened the book to a random page and began reading. The paper had yellowed and the remaining ink was difficult to read and were it not for the Sharingan it would have been nigh impossible to decipher.

The question was why was this book in the pile? It did not appear to be a treatise on the Sharingan's finer aspects or a guidebook on how to unlock it. Puzzled, Sasuke began reading:

Izuna and I have decided to call this new evolution the Mangekyou Sharingan.

I am not sure how we activated this new Sharingan. There are many Uchiha who are my elder who do not possess it, yet they have all three tomoe and have survived many conflicts. They are also puzzled by the new Fire Style ninjutsu I have discovered, the Amaterasu. They have been unable to copy it with their normal Sharingan.

Izuna has also discovered a genjutsu we have taken to calling Tsukuyomi. Only our best genjutsu specialist has been able to break it, but just barely. They cannot replicate it either but I can. The jutsu these new eyes give us can only be performed by the two of us. I don't know whether this is due to us being siblings or any other reason.

~ Madara Uchiha

"Madara Uchiha," Sasuke mouthed. That was the first person to have ever unlocked the Mangekyou Sharingan. Sasuke took the other books and set them aside. Sasuke twitched moments before Kakashi Hatake entered the apartment.

"Found anything yet?" Kakashi asked. Kakashi's eyes were buried into an Icha Icha book.

"You could say that."


Sakura was on her third body diagram, this time on the chakra network. The park she was sitting in was mostly empty. Civilians were off working and shinobi were either on missions or on patrols around the city; Hiashi Hyuga was the cause of the later.

Sakura pushed the diagram away and sat down and started watching the clouds. "I can see why Shikamaru likes doing this so much," she thought to herself. Sakura sat there for hours, letting the time pass by.

"Sakura!" The kunoichi bolted to her feet. A kid in a bowl cut with a green jumpsuit gave her a funny look. "Sakura, are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine Lee." Her cheeks turned a shade of pink, similar to her hair and dress. She should have been more aware. She wasn't Shikamaru. "Wait, I thought you were still hurt from the fight with Gaara? Where are your crutches?"

"The Hokage did a most youthful operation. She says if I take my medicine I will be able to continue being a shinobi!" Lee gave his Nice Guy Smile to her and picked up one of Sakura's diagrams. "What is this for Sakura? Shouldn't you be training with Kakashi-sensei and Naruto and Sasuke?"

"They're off training."

"Yes, Sakura, but shouldn't you be with them?"

"Oh, no, they're getting special training," she said. "Didn't you hear about that?"

"No. But that would explain why Guy-sensei has been unable to challenge Kakashi-sensei to a fifty-second contest." Lee folded up the diagram and handed it gently back to Sakura. "What are they learning?"

Sakura shrugged. "I have no idea. Naruto's off with someone called 'The Pervy Sage' and Sasuke is with Kakashi again."

"Who is teaching you?"

"The Hokage, but she's been busy with village stuff I guess." Lee nodded and was quiet for a moment. Suddenly, fire literal danced in his eyes and he leapt into his Nice Guy pose.

"Sakura! You can train with Team Guy!"

The suggestion took the kunoichi by surprise. If she said no, Lee would be incredibly depressed, if she said yes, well… "Sure Lee. That'd be… fine."

"Most excellent! We will be training tomorrow at the first training ground at eight o'clock! See you then Sakura!" The ninja ran off happily and Sakura sighed. This would be… interesting.


Kabuto lazily handed Orochimaru a porcelain toad mask. "Is this some sort of joke," the Sanin asked angrily. The Sound ninja both had changed into Konoha ANBU uniforms, complete with katana. Konoha, which only lay a few miles in the distance, gave off a multitude of lights that pierced the night sky.

Kabuto smiled and his glasses slid down his nose ever so slightly. "Maybe a little. That does not mean that it isn't practical though. Who would expect the snake Sanin to be wearing a toad ANBU mask?"

"Then you get the dog mask," Orochimaru said.

"Are you implying, something Lord Orochimaru?"

"Maybe a little." Orochimaru slid the toad mask over his head. "We will both enter Konohagakure tomorrow. You at noon, I at sunset. Search the city and learn the patrols. I will locate Sasuke. We meet two days from now at the top of the Forest of Death's tower."

Kabuto fastened his dog mask to his head and nodded. The two disappeared, separately preparing themselves for this mission.


"Oooooooh YEAH! Shake it ladies!" Jiraiya roared. Two women from the night club danced seductively before the Sanin. Naruto groaned as the two entertained his 'teacher'.

"Harem Jutsu!" Naruto whispered. Dozens of female Narutos appeared on the strip clubs stage. The smoke from the jutsu slowly disappeared. The other men in the strip club catcalled and rejoiced at the new 'entertainers'. One of the Narutos gripped a microphone from a stand and shouted into it. "HEEELLLOOOOOOOOO GUYS!"

A roar of catcalls erupted from the men. "Are you guys ready to rock!" another yelled. The men called back. "Then you guys are going to love this," the microphone Naruto said seductively. "Transformation Jutsu!"

Each of the Narutos reverted into their normal selves, sans clothing. The men instantly got quiet. Jiraiya seethed with killing intent.

All of the men then burst out of the strip club screaming. Naruto dispersed his clones and glared at the two women who were entertaining the toad sage only moments before. "Go. Now." The two shrieked and ran to the club's dressing area back stage.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Why the hell haven't you been training me?"

"I told you we need to find someone to help you!"

"Then why haven't we been looking for him! I don't think he'd be some cheap whore, you perv!"

"Hey! This place was not cheap!" Jiraiya protested. A man with glasses and a black suit came running from the backstage area with two men with large clubs.

"Get out of here! You went and scared away all of my customers! We are a 5-star establishment and you've ruined us!" the man said. Naruto left quickest, he didn't want to stay here anyway. Jiraiya needed some prodding from the bouncers and more verbal assault from the owner before he conceded.


"This is his house," Jiraiya said. The house he was referring to was made entirely out of wood. There was no paint or stone or paper used at all in its design. The home sat a little ways off from the village, not to far but not a short walk either.

On the porch sat a man with short brown hair. He wore no indication of national origin and happily sliced open a peach for a midnight snack.

"Jiraiya, you're late," he said absent-mindedly. The Sage slapped the back of Naruto's head.

"We would have been here much later if Naruto hadn't ruined all of the fun."

The man grinned. "Thank you, Naruto. It's always nice to see a shinobi who is dedicated."

"Come on Tenzo, lay off a little. He would have gotten here eventually."

Naruto looked strangely at Tenzo and his house. "Are you a ninja?" he asked.

Tenzo smiled again. "That's classified information Naruto. But for the sake of this training, yes I am a ninja."

"Good. I wanted to make sure Pervy Sage wasn't fooling with me again." Jiraiya bopped Naruto on the head.

"Stop it with the 'Pervy Sage' already!"

Tenzo set his peach and knife down. "Naruto, if you would go inside, there is a room on the second floor for you." Naruto nodded and went in silently.

"You got the messenger toad then?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes. He found me a few days ago while my squad was returning from a mission." Tenzo paused. "You didn't make it clear exactly why you needed me."

"You are aware he is the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox?"

"Who doesn't? I'm just wondering why you need me here to help him. I have not heard of any problems with the Fox when he trained at the academy or with Kakashi or when you trained with him a few weeks ago."

"The Uchiha got his Mangekyou. Naruto needs to be up to his level when he returns to Konoha or else that kid is probably going to do something really stupid. Naruto is the only person who could slap some sense into him if it came down to it. But, in order to get Naruto up there I plan on using his Shadow Clones." Tenzo nodded in complete understanding.

"When will you start needing me?"

"Tomorrow. He's going to perfect the base Rasengan. I'd be surprised if the Fox didn't show its ugly head."


Sakura entered the First Training Ground. This field was a bare plain with a large river sitting in the middle. Neji and Tenten were sitting near the fences of the field idly chatting. Lee was nearby doing push-ups.

Neji saw Sakura first. She could have sworn that the Hyuga's eyes had the Byakugan active. The kunoichi shivered. That kekkei genkai gave her the creeps. At least Sasuke's Sharingan looked cool.

Tenten smiled and waved at her. Sakura waved back. Sakura remembered Lee and Guy-sensei's "Power of Youth" speeches and Neji's obsession with fate. Tenten was sane right?

As the girl from Team 7 joined the group, Guy ran into the field and quickly jumped into a pose. "Hey everybody! Life treating' ya good?" Lee rose from his push-ups and saluted. Neji stayed silent and Tenten repressed a groan. Sakura didn't know what to think.

"I will be leaving later this morning for a mission so we must get as much done as we can! NEJI!" The Hyuga flinched. "You will be sparring with Tenten! LEE!" Rock Lee quivered with excitement. "You will be working on regaining your strength from your operation! A hundred laps around the field!"

"And if I cannot do that then I will do five hundred sit-ups!"

"SAK…ura?" Guy stopped. His energetic demeanor snapped into a serious tone. "Lee. Come with me." Lee gulped and the two walked toward the lake.

"Is Lee going to get in trouble?" Sakura asked. Tenten chuckled.

"Nope."

Lee and Guy began waving their arms madly, gibbering excitedly to each other.

"LEE!"

"GUY-SENSEI!"

The two shinobi embraced each other and manly tears poured from their eyes. Sakura poked Tenten. "Do they always do that?"

"Yes. Do not worry Sakura, you will never get used to it," Neji grumbled.

The two ninja ended their embrace and rushed toward the three Genin.

"SAKURA!" Guy shouted. Lee leapt into a pose. "Lee shall be helping you train! Now everybody! Let's go! With the POWER OF YOUTH!"


The Uchiha perused through Madara's diary quickly. It completely chronicled Madara and Izuna's testing with the Mangekyou Sharingan and it contained as good an analysis as Sasuke had ever seen on the different Mangekyou ninjutsu and genjutsu. According to Madara, the ways to perform the techniques were already hard-wired into his brain it was just figuring out how to use them that was difficult.

Doing a quick look at the page dedicated for Tsukuyomi, Sasuke gave his sensei a pleading glance. "Kakashi, I have a genjutsu I want to try on you."

Kakashi slammed his Icha Icha book shut. "I will not be your Tsukuyomi test dummy."

"Then who am I supposed to test this on?"

"No one. Itachi put you in a coma and he knew what he was doing. I'd hate to see what you would do."

Sasuke chucked a kunai at Kakashi's foot. "Then we're practicing taijutsu." Kakashi stood, nose still in his book.

"Whenever you're ready."


Lee looked Sakura up and down. His cheerful personality was gone, replaced by a quiet and serious one. This was short-lived.

"Sakura! I know just what we need to start with! Do fifty sit-ups!" Lee said.

The kunoichi nodded and got into position. Lee grumbled and Sakura paused. The boy gave a slightly annoyed smile. Confused, Sakura continued. She made her first sit-up and Lee snorted.

"What?" she asked.

"You're forgetting something," Lee deadpanned.

"Huh?"

"Your Self-Imposed Challenge!" Sakura stared absent-mindedly at Lee. "That is right! You've never trained here before! Guy-sensei taught me about the Self-Imposed Challenge. Whenever you train or spar with someone, declare that if you lose you will do something to train harder. That way if you lose you will get better for future challenges and if you succeed you will not need the challenge anyway."

Sakura nodded slowly. "If I can't do fifty push-ups, I'll run one lap around the field?" Lee nodded approvingly.


"Morning Pervy Sage, morning Tenzo-sensei," Naruto chirped. Tenzo smiled at his new honorific. Jiraiya growled. He also was ignored. "What are we learning today?"

"You will be working on perfecting the Rasengan," Jiraiya said.

"But I can do it already," Naruto replied.

"You have to use a clone to make up for it. The first step to your training is creating a Rasengan without a clone. This will improve your chakra control and cause you to use less chakra when creating this jutsu because you won't need the clone." The boy snorted in protest.

"Naruto. The techniques I am going to be teaching you require a great deal of chakra control. You can't be having your Shadow Clones doing all of the hard work for you. And even if you did, they would waste some of your chakra. Do you remember Akatsuki?" A vision of Itachi and Kisame flashed before Naruto's eyes. "They will be after you. And believe it or not, there are even stronger ones than them in the organization. You can't waste any chakra against them."

Naruto's face showed some understanding, but there was still some apprehension.

Tenzo stepped forward. "Think of it another way, Naruto. If you are in combat with a shinobi that is a ranged fighter, he would be able to disperse your Clones easily if you are using them to create a Rasengan or any other type of jutsu you decide to use Shadow Clones in. If you can do the same jutsu without the clones you will be able to fight that much more effectively and efficiently," he said

Jiraiya nodded. Out of all of the Akatsuki members the sage knew of, at least one excelled at long range while several more had long-ranged capabilities Naruto had no defense for.

"Alright. When do I start?"

"Right now. Naruto, create fifty Shadow Clones," Jiraiya ordered.

"You just said not to use Shadow Clones!"

"Haven't you ever noticed anything about your Shadow Clones before?" Tenzo asked.

"Nope."

"Huh. Alright, Naruto. Create a Shadow Clone," Jiraiya said. Naruto made the hand seal and a Clone appeared next to one Jiraiya had formed. "Now you two, go over there into the house." Wordlessly, the two clones entered the house. A couple seconds passed. "Naruto, dispel the jutsu. Now what did the two clones do?"

"You wanted me to do the Harem Jutsu so I smashed your clone in the face," Naruto growled. "Wait. How did I know that?"

"That technique was created as a way to scout on enemy positions. The jutsu creates a solid mass that can interact with the environment so it can complete its missions easier. However, if it gets injured it disappears and any information obtained by the Clone is provided to the user," Tenzo said.

A stupid look crossed Naruto's face. "What?"

"Whatever happens to a Shadow Clone happens to you. By training your clones you can increase your training time exponentially. With two clones, one hour becomes two. With ten clones, an hour becomes ten. And with a hundred clones…"

"An hour becomes a hundred!" Naruto said happily.

"He finally understands something," Jiraiya snickered to himself.

Naruto grinned his trademark grin and created fifty shadow clones. Each held out their hands. Jiraiya nodded and Yamato assumed the Lotus position, prepared to dispel any clone that tapped into the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra. The training for a perfect Rasengan had begun.


Kabuto took off his ANBU mask. "Lord Orochimaru." The Sannin coughed, acknowledging his subordinate's presence. "I have a list of the patrols. The guard changes at oh one hundred every day. ANBU patrols are the most common, but there are more and more Hyuga-only teams."

"Sasuke's training center is in the Uchiha district. Are there any patrols in that sector of Konoha?"

"There is the occasional group, mostly focusing around their clan headquarters and library. Those patrols however, are limited. Does Sasuke have any babysitters?"

"Kakashi. He can easily be dealt with," Orochimaru said. "Get ready for tomorrow Kabuto. We'll kidnap Sasuke then."


Author's Notes: Man, this took longer than it should have. Writing scenes with Lee and Guy make me uncomfortable. I never know if I'm applying too much Youth or too little.