It is a widely accepted fact that Uchihas have perfect eyesight. Itachi does not, and therefore he has been getting mocked recently. That is why Itachi has taken to hiding from the general leads us to Itachi's current situation.

"YOUTH!" Might Guy yells pumping his fist in the air.

"Youth!" Echoes Rock Lee enthusiastically.

"Youth," forces out Nagato-sama between pants of exhaustion.

"YOUTH!" repeats Guy-san, getting all up in Itachi's face.

"Youth," agrees Itachi, somewhat unwillingly. He is only there as Nagato-sama's body guard. Why does he have to get involved in the training? Running laps around the village while chanting 'youth' was not on his list of things to do. Ever.

"YOUTH!"

"Youth!"

"Youth."

"Um, youth." Itachi is barely managing to keep up. Guy-san drives a hard training regime, even for recovering cripples. All they need is Hayate and every willing member of the Crippled Shinobi Club will be running laps of the Hidden Leaf Village with Might Guy-san. Itachi regrets all the training he didn't do after he joined the Akatsuki and started genjutsuing all his opponents.

For some odd reason, Nagato-sama is enjoying the training. He is even wearing the spandex tights that Guy-san offered him before they began training. Itachi would never tell Guy-san or Nagato-sama, but Nagato-sama actually looks better in the tights than Guy san ever did.

"Youth! Youth! Youth!" the chant sets the pace as they jog along the outskirts of the village. Sweat makes Itachi's glasses slip around uncomfortably.

"Halt!" calls Guy-san. The line skids to a halt.

Itachi looks around to find the reason for the sudden halt. Standing in their path is Jiraiya the Toad Sage.

"Jiraiya sensei!" Nagato pants happily. "I thought you pulled another vanishing act!"

"Well, I'm back now," Jiraiya sama says. "Er, what are you wearing?"

"Do you like it?" asks Nagato sama. "All I need is a toad hat, and the outfit will be complete!"

"Nagato, why? Just, why?" Jiraiya face palms.

Nagato sama looks crestfallen. "But… they're cool! And more functional than the toad suits!"

"I think what he means is why did you have to wear Might Guy's trademark outfit," says Itachi, holding his sides in exertion. He hasn't had a workout of this level for a long time. "Instead of his. It's the condition known as the 'Sensei Complex'. If it is not from the sensei, then the student should stay away from it."

"Oh." Nagato looks a little too sad.

"Cheer up, Nagato-sama." Itachi pats his leader on the shoulder. Who would have thought that the god of the Hidden Rain is childish and actively seeks the approval of his sensei?

Itachi isn't sure if he is glad that Konan isn't present or disappointed that she isn't. After all, she seems to think the spandex aren't all bad. Imagine if Nagato made it compulsory for members of Akatsuki to wear the spandex under their cloaks. Itachi shudders at the thought.

Then an orange tornado hits Jiraiya.

"PERVY SAGE!" it yells. "SASUKE IS A JOUNIN NOW!"

"What's that got to do with anything?" yells back Jiraiya. "Have you SEEN what Nagato is wearing?"

Naruto looks at what Nagato is wearing. "Hey, that outfit looks way better on you than it does on Gai sensei!"

Itachi facepalms. ####! Damn it Naruto, why? WHY!?

"Really?" asks Nagato smiling.

"Yep!" Naruto does a thumbs up.

Itachi facepalms again.

Sakura is doing her daily round of 5,000 push ups when Sasuke turns up in his brand new Jounin vest. In order to clearly communicate to her teammate that she is not in the mood to talk to him, Sakura raises her voice, "4751, 4752, 4753, 4754…"

"Um, Sakura?" says Sasuke.

"...4756, 4757, 4758…"

"Are you mad at me for making jounin while you're still a genin?"

"...4762, 4763, 4764…"

"Naruto is back in the village."

"...4757, 4768, 4769…"

Sasuke gets the message and, because he does not want to be punched, he stands quietly while Sakura finishes. "...4997, 4998, 4999, 5000." Sakura gets up, stretches her muscles out and says to Sasuke, "Take me to Naruto, NOW."

She's so pretty when she's angry, thinks Sasuke. Even if she is angry at me. Pity about the cooties. All the same, Sasuke leads Sakura to Naruto's location. There they find Jiraiya, Gai, Lee and Itachi along with Nagato, who is wearing Gai's spandex for some reason, and Naruto who appears to be encouraging Nagato to wear the spandex, the idiot.

"Oh, hey Sakura!" Naruto waves to their teammate. "How are y-"

He is cut off when Sakura violently punches him, sending him flying 254 meters. Then Sakura stalks up to Naruto, drags his face to eye level and yells, "That's what you get for disappearing without telling anyone! If you EVER do it again, I will put you in the hospital for a month! Do you understand!"

"Yes, Sakura!" stammers out Naruto. "You've gotten really strong, Sakura!"

"I should hope so! I do 5,000 push ups, 5,000 sit ups, 3,000 bench presses, 300 laps around the village and another 400 laps around the village on a skipping rope each day! And that not even counting the weights and the training with Tsunade shisou!"

"SUCH PASSION!" Might Gai has tears streaming down his face. "IT'S SO INSPIRING TO SEE SUCH A YOUNG WOMAN DOING TRAINING AT SUCH A HIGH LEVEL ON HER OWN!" His eyes practically catch fire. "LEE, NAGATO, ITACHI, WE MUST DOUBLE OUR EFFORTS!" He strikes a Nice Guy Pose, complete with tooth sparkle. "ONWARD, STUDENTS! YOUTH!" he jogs off again.

"YOUTH!" yells Lee, following.

"Come on, Itachi," says Nagato, following Lee and Gai. "Youth!"

" #%$&!" mutters Itachi. "Should've left while I had the chance. Thanks for getting them fired up Sakura."

"Hurry up Itachi! Youth!"

"Right, youth," mutters Itachi, jogging after the other three.

Sasuke laughs. All that time he spent wanting to kill Itachi seems wasted. This would have made a much better, more satisfying kind of revenge.

"Soooooo," says Naruto. "What's up with them?"

"Gai is their trainer," says Sakura, checking her fingernails. "Now the real question is; where were you, Naruto."

"I trained to become a Sage!" says Naruto. "And I have to go on a mission to find the Eight Tails. But first: there is no WAY I am leaving before I am chunin! For all I know, I'll come back to find Sasuke made Hokage!"

"Good," says Sakura. "We are entering the next chunin exams. They are in three months."

"You'll need a third team mate," comments Sasuke. "Where are you going to get one? It's not like you can borrow someone from another team: it would be better to find two people to fill in on team Seven and team Ten."

Naruto is silent for a moment, face screwed up in thought. Then he grins. "I know the perfect two people!"