Kishimoto owns Naruto.
Foxglove is mentioned in this chapter. It contains a substance that can cause heart attacks, so do not take the mention of it as a recommendation to try and eat it. Foxgloves are not edible.

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Chapter Six

Training

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"Hey, Teuchi-san!" Naruto called in greeting as he entered the Ramen stand. "Ayami-san!"

"Ruto-kun! Hinata-chan!" Ayami smiled at them. "Hello, Sasuke-kun."

"Ayami-san." Sasuke smiled back as he sat down next to Hinata.

"We heard about your adventure in the Palace." Teuchi said as he lit the stove in preparation for cooking the noodles. "Having the Daimyo create an entire new rank for you three? Congratulations!"

"It does make us a bit more of a target, though." Sasuke pointed out, having had a long discussion with his family about the effects that the Daimyo's decision could have on them. "Apparently, Kumogakure has already placed us in their Bingo Books. No reward yet, but they've marked us as Shinobi of Interest."

"Is that good?" Naruto asked curiously, having ordered while Sasuke was talking.

"Not really." Sasuke sighed. "Beef Ramen, please."

"Miso for me, if you would be so kind." Hinata requested, then half-turned to face Sasuke. "Not really?"

"If we go up against any Kumo shinobi, they'll be a lot less likely to underestimate us, making our missions harder." Sasuke explained. "in addition, the other nations will have heard about us by now, so they'll be keeping an eye out for us too."

"Which means that you'll have to be prepared." Hiruzen confirmed as he sat down next to them. "I'll have a Vegetable Ramen, please. I've made arrangements for sparring practice against the other teams later on in the week. We'll also be working on special chakra-control exercises and elemental compositioning, not to mention training towards being able to use the Hiraishin technique. Once you get good enough to use it, it will massively increase both the number and ranking of missions you can take."

"Kashi-nii says that I'm making progress on that." Naruto stated proudly. "He's also started me on the water balloon exercises."

Hiruzen nodded in understanding as the other two stared at him in confusion.

"…water balloons?" Hinata finally asked and Naruto nodded.

"Yep. Kashi-nii showed me the final technique and it's awesome!"Naruto exulted, then he pouted. "But he says I'm not allowed to use it outside practice until I become a Chunin… or at least reach the finals of the exams."

"If it is the technique I believe it to be, then he is absolutely correct." Hiruzen confirmed. "There is quite a history behind that technique and there are only three living Shinobi who can perform it."

"Kashi-nii… I think Kimi-nii can do it…" Naruto mused. "Haku-nii?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "No. Jiraiya."

"What?!" Naruto spun to stare in shock at Hiruzen. "The Old Perv knows the technique? How? Why?"

"There are perfectly valid reasons and he was taught by the one who created it in the first place." Hiruzen replied, giving Naruto a stern look that made the young Shinobi sit back down.

"Jiraiya…" Sasuke mused as Teuchi set the bowl of Ramen in front of him. "He and Ruto's kaa-san were two of your previous students, right?"

"Along with the one who was my greatest failure, yes." Hiruzen sighed, then he gave the stall-owner a grateful smile. "Thank you. This looks wonderful."

"Another bowl, please!" Naruto held out his empty bowl, causing Hiruzen to blink in shock.

"Just accept it." Hinata advised with a smile as she used her chopsticks to lift some of the noodles in preparation for eating. "Ruto-kun can eat fast."

"He didn't even stain his mask!" Sasuke gasped.

"Practice." Naruto smirked as he accepted a second bowl. "Thanks, Teuchi-san!"

"By the way, Kakashi came to me this morning." Hiruzen noted. "He told me that you'd moved from the flat to his house."

"That's right." Naruto agreed. "Kashi-nii's house is livable again and he said something about not trusting me to avoid getting up to mischief living in a big flat on my own, so I've moved into one of his spare bedrooms and the flat is being rented out to get us a bit more spending money."

"So…" Hinata turned pleading eyes on Naruto and he nodded.

"Kashi-nii told me I could show you guys around this evening, or to show you where I'm now living at the very least."

"Do you have a tree-house?" Hinata teased, causing Naruto to briefly choke on his ramen. After managing to clear his airways (and swallow the noodles he had been eating), he answered.

"No, sadly. We don't have trees large enough for that."

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"Ruto-kun! Hinata-chan!"

"Kaa-san!" Naruto almost flew across the training area and into his mother's hug.

"Tsunade-oba!" Hinata joined them as in the background, Hiruzen chuckled. After a long moment, Tsunade released the two and stood up, wiping the traces of grass from her left knee as she did so.

"And this must be Sasuke. Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Senju-Sama." Sasuke replied with impressive aplomb, then froze as Tsunade moved close to him and peered at his eyes. "Er…"

"Hold still." Tsunade commanded as she held a glowing hand up to the side of Sasuke's face. "…interesting."

"Is it something we should be concerned about?" Hiruzen prompted and Tsunade shook her head as she stepped away from the nervous Genin.

"Not really, but from the looks of it, he's almost on the verge of getting his second tomoe. Activating the Sharingan in a non-traumatic situation is quite rare and according to the files Fugaku showed me, those who gain it that way tend to advance quicker for some reason."

Sasuke stared at her for a moment, then grinned. "I'll have my second tomoe by the Chunin exams? Nice."

"Most probably." Tsunade agreed. "Anyway, Shizune's already at the hospital, so I thought I'd check in before rejoining her. Wave's getting almost too quiet without you getting into mischief."

Naruto pretended to sulk at his mother's joke while Hinata hid her smile.

"Nice headbands." Tsunade reached out to stroke one finger along the cloth of Naruto's Hitai-ate. "You know that you'll probably get a nickname from this?"

"The Protection Trio?" Hiruzen suggested.

"The Hogo no torio…" Hinata mused, then she nodded. "I like it."

"Means we'll be… oh so notorious!" Naruto punned, causing Sasuke to groan while Hinata sighed before gently dope-slapping him.

"That was bad and you should feel bad."

"It was pretty bad." Tsunade admitted with a slight smile as Naruto looked at her for confirmation.

"I don't know, I quite liked it." A new voice said and Naruto looked past his mother.

"Pervy-sage!"

Jiraiya glowered at the masked blond for a moment, then chuckled. "I've been called worse. Far worse. Usually by your mother, in fact."

Tsunade's smile turned smug.

"Anyway, I was in Wave on business and your mother let me tag along so I could pass my report to Itachi. Since I'm done… Sensei, want any help? I've got nothing much to do for the next few hours."

Hiruzen grinned evilly.

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"I can't believe that Sensei tricked me into babysitting." Jiraiya grumbled as he walked out of the Hokage Tower with a mission scroll in hand and three amused Genin following him. "Let's see… darn, nowhere near the baths."

"Nii-san obviously knows you too well." Sasuke stated blandly, earning a glower from the Jonin.

"So, what mission is it?" Naruto piped up and Jiraiya sighed.

"The seals on the southern wall have degraded slightly and need checking. On the plus side, this will let me introduce you to the wonders of fuuinjutsu."

"Fuuinjutsu relies quite a bit on memorization, if I recall my lessons correctly." Hinata pondered and Jiraiya nodded.

"That's right. You need to be able to memorize hundreds of seals and patterns if you want to get past journeyman level. Of course, to become a full Master like myself takes more than that."

"Would the sharingan be useful for that?" Naruto asked, having seen where Hinata was going. Jiraiya slammed to a halt, then turned to look at Sasuke who returned his contemplative look.

"…It could work…" Jiraiya finally admitted. "I don't think I've ever heard of an Uchiha doing fuuinjutsu to a level beyond sealing scrolls and explosive tags, but… it's certainly an intriguing thought. I'll dig out some of my old teaching scrolls if you want."

"That would be appreciated, Jiraiya-sama." Sasuke gave a slight bow and Jiraiya laughed as he looked at the other two genin.

"Why can't you give me respect like that?"

"Because we know you too well?" Naruto shot back, causing the white-haired Sage to laugh even harder.

"You are certainly your mother's son."

"Thanks!"

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"Can either of you two see the fuuinjutsu arrays in the wall?" Jiraiya asked as Hinata and Sasuke used their respective dojutsu to examine the section of wall in front of them.

"I can… see something." Sasuke finally stated. "I can't quite make out the lines, but I can see some sort of chakra moving… kind of like a current."

"The arrays in the walls use nature chakra to help reinforce the structure as well as providing an alert to anyone trying to pierce their way through." Jiraiya supplied.

"I can see the lines of chakra and how it is moving." Hinata offered.

"I can't… wait! I can see it!" Sasuke squinted slightly. "Got it!"

"And your second tomoe." Naruto noted as he moved for a better look at his team-mate's face. "Well, your second in your right eye, your left still only has one."

"I checked this section earlier at Itachi's request, so I know it's good." Jiraiya began strolling towards the next section. "Sneaky kid must have been planning this. Now that the two of you know what good looks like, we should get this done quickly. Remember what you saw and compare the next section."

"I may suggest to my father that more of my clan learn fuuinjutsu so that we can help more in keeping the village safe." Sasuke mused as his eyes reverted to their usual color.

"Let's get moving!" Jiraiya called back to them. "The sooner we get this arc done, the sooner I can give you back to Sensei and go do more research!"

"Research?" Naruto echoed, then he started to snicker.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke half-whispered.

"Kaa-san told me that whenever she visits Konoha, she spends some of each afternoon in the baths, catching up on the gossip. Ero-sennin's research is mainly peeping on bathing women and Kaa-san's almost killed him for it once before. If he tries to peep again…"

Both of the other genin looked at him, obviously following his logic, then Hinata giggled as Sasuke smirked.

"I've always wondered if frogs could fly." Sasuke joked.

Jiraiya looked back at the three laughing children and a small smile formed on his lips.

'Sharing jokes like they do, supporting each other… Minato, you would be so proud of your son and his friends…'

.

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"And done." Jiraiya passed the scroll to Itachi, who accepted it with a nod of confirmation. "One of the arrays was beginning to malfunction, but we fixed it. Details are on the scroll, but I'd strongly advise getting that part of the wall re-plastered before the next rainstorm."

"So noted." Itachi replied calmly. "Did you want another mission?"

"One C-rank a day is enough for me." Jiraiya shook his head. "Give me a good B- or A-rank any day."

"Still looking for excitement?" Hiruzen asked from the window and Jiraiya smirked.

"You know me, Sensei. I always like to get my blood pumping… and speaking of which, I really should get going, I have research to do! The three are yours and they did good work!"

Matching word to deed, Jiraiya vanished in a swirl of leaves. Itachi rolled his eyes, then gave Hiruzen a small nod.

"Head to Training Area five." Hiruzen commanded. "I've arranged for some cover while I deal with some paperwork."

"Hai, Sensei!" The trio replied before filing out of the door.

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"Asuma-san?"

"Hey." Asuma grinned at the trio. "Pops asked me to give you some elemental training. While I'm primarily wind- and fire-natured, I worked hard on raising my other affinities to useful levels."

"Wind and fire…" Hinata mused, then her eyes brightened. "Is that why you and Hiruzen-sensei both smoke?"

"It does give us extra ways to use our favorite jutsu." Asuma replied before taking a deep drag on his cigarette, then exhaling the smoke. As it drifted away for him, it coalesced into the kanji for correct.

"Nice trick." Sasuke said in admiration, causing Asuma to laugh. "What?"

"Every Uchiha I've worked with has been at least a closet pyromaniac." Asuma explained, his grin not diminishing in the slightest. "There's even a joke about it. If you want an Uchiha to like you, set something on fire as they watch."

"Sounds about right." Hinata agreed, earning an annoyed-yet-amused oi from her black-haired team-mate, then she raised an eyebrow in confusion as Asuma brought out a trio of paper slips. "Asuma-san, we already know our alignments."

"Lightning, secondary of fire." Sasuke supplied.

"Fire, secondary of lightning."

"Wind." Naruto finished.

"That is a good setup for a D&N team." Asuma admitted, tucking the papers away. "So, let's talk bladed weapons and how to channel chakra through them. Sasuke, Hinata, lightning though a weapon lets you temporarily paralyze an enemy, rendering them helpless for a few seconds. Fire means that any damage dealt causes more pain, heals slower and even increases slightly for a while after the strike. Ruto, wind lets you slice through things with incredible ease. The effect can be magnified by using weapons made from a chakra-metal alloy, but it is expensive."

Naruto tapped the hilt of his katana. "Kaa-san had this made for me by a blacksmith back home."

"My father helped me select my blade from the Uchiha Armory."

"Shayo-san decided that I was worthy of carrying her old naginata."

Asuma stared in near-shock ar Hinata, who blushed slightly under his scrutiny.

"So that's what was in that small scroll that she gave you!" Sasuke exclaimed in realization, then he looked round as a throbbing percussive rhythm echoed across the field. "Wow, I thought it would have taken tou-san longer than this to put the drum-corp back together…"

"It's nice to have some background music for training." Asuma smirked, then he handed each of them a leaf. "Alright, let's do some work on elemental compositioning… Ruto, let me begin by telling you that not only is futon one of the better elements for attacks, it can also be used to help throw things…"

Asuma froze as a scream dopplered overhead, causing all three genin to snigger.

"Erm… what was that?"

"A flying frog." Naruto snickered.

"…a what?"

.

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"Your trio are good." Asuma noted as he stepped up to the bar, motioning to the barkeep for a bottle of Sake. "Ruto is already past the leaf-cutting exercise, although he used Kage Bunshin to help him learn, and Hinata can turn a leaf into ash less than five minutes from a sitting start."

"And Sasuke?" Hiruzen prompted as he refilled his Sake bottle.

"Crinkling his leaf within six minutes. I've got to get a trio of my own."

"Speak to Itachi about it." Hiruzen paused as he took another sip of Sake. "I'm no longer in charge of things like that, remember?"

Asuma ignored his father's teasing as he took a sip of his own Sake.

"By the way, when did Jiraiya learn how to fly?"

Hiruzen's snort of laughter caused the sake he was drinking to transform into a cloud around his head.

"He got you, Sensei." The bruised but unrepentant Sage noted from the corner of the bar.

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"…and here it is!" Naruto gestured to the gate set into the low wall, a gate which was open and had a very familiar white-haired man leaning against one pillar while reading a book. "Hey, nii-san!"

"Hey, otouto." Kakashi gave a lazy wave, then turned the page. "Showing your friends round?"

"We were interested to see where he lived, Kashi-san." Hinata gave Kakashi a small bow.

"As I expected." Kakashi gave her an eye-smile. "Well, I've got a courier mission to get to soon, so head in. The tea's brewing and should be fully steeped in about ten minutes, so you can give them a quick tour."

"Thanks, nii-san!" Naruto's grin seemed to project through his mask and the older shinobi paused just long enough to ruffle his hair before pocketing his book and strolling off. "Come on in."

Hinata and Sasuke followed Naruto through the gate and into a small front garden that seemed almost overshadowed by the two-storey house before them and the one-storey wings which extended out almost to the side walls.

"This is where Kashi-nii grew up." Naruto said in a sober tone as he led them in through the open door. "It's been the Hatake clan home since the founding of Konoha."

"The Hatake were one of the founding clans?" Sasuke asked and Naruto shook his head.

"No, they were one of the many allies of the Senju back then." Naruto paused, looking to where a large wall-scroll with the Hatake clan crest was hanging, facing the door. "The Hatake clan was never very large to begin with and the ones who chose to follow the Senju into their new village were few enough that a single large mansion was enough for the clan. Since the Hatake clan were well-known for their front-line techniques, they were over-represented for their size in the high-risk positions during the Great Shinobi Wars… meaning that they never really got a chance to grow in size. Right now, nii-san is the last true Hatake in Konoha."

"…I can't imagine what that's like, being the last of a clan which was one of the first in Konoha." Sasuke finally managed and Naruto shrugged.

"Well, if he ever gets round to asking Shizune-nee out, there'll soon be lots of little Hatakes running round."

"You have a weird family." Sasuke shook his head. "So… the tour?"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto almost scampered to the staircase leading up the right side of the hall. "Well, up here are the bedrooms and the clan library. The stairs are on this side to make it harder for kenjutsu users to fight their way up."

Sasuke nodded in understanding as he followed his team-mates up the stairs. The wall on the right would severely hamper any attackers ability to do actual cutting attacks, limiting them to blocks or stabs.

"My room's on the left, over there." Naruto pointed to the door at the end of the balconey that ran the entire width of the entrance hall. "The guest rooms are down the corridor next to it, nii-san's set the first two up for both of you two if you ever want to stay over."

"I… I'd like that." Hinata half-whispered.

"Kashi-nii's bedroom is that one." Naruto pointed to the closest bedroom down the right-side corridor. "Beyond that is Kimimaro-nii's for when he's here, then Haku's bedroom. The corridors both go to the rear balconey which gives a great view of the sunset."

"And the other bedrooms?" Hinata prompted.

"Kaa-san and Shizu-nee." Naruto shrugged as he led them back down the stairs. "Now, the left and right wings are closed off, they're pretty much houses in their own right, but the main parts of the house are through this way. The dining room and kitchen are to the left, the Dojo and clan armory are on the right… well, the Armory's in the basement…"

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"This is lovely tea." Hinata stated before she took another appreciative sip.

"What blend is it?" Sasuke asked curiously. "I think kaa-san would love it."

"Kashi-nii buys it in Wave." Naruto replied. "It's the Sunrise Ascendant blend."

"I'll make a note of it." Sasuke took another sip of his drink. "So, tou-san mentioned that we may be getting another mission outside Konoha soon."

"Really? Any idea where?"

Sasuke shrugged. "No, sorry. Tou-san just said I should double-check my travel kit soon."

"Sounds like good advice." Naruto agreed as he refilled Hinata's cup. "I replaced my rations a couple of days ago. Fortunately, Haruko-oba taught me some recipes for using rations to make full meals, so I don't waste any food."

"Useful." Sasuke noted.

"Oba-san's awesome like that." Naruto agreed.

.

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"Good morning, team." Hiruzen greeted the trio as he ambled into the training field. "Since we will have another C-rank in a week's time, I'm cutting back a bit on the D-rank missions in favor of extra training… unless any of you are getting low on your financial reserves?"

At the trio of head-shakes, he continued. "Now, Asuma will be joining us soon to help continue your elemental training, Naruto. Hinata, Sasuke, as you seem to have the basics of your primary elements down, we are switching to your secondaries for today so you can continue to practice them in your own time.
"This afternoon, we will be meeting up with team eight for a combined training and sparring session. Any questions? Then let us begin with a warm-up."

Mentally thanking Tsunade for helping him recover almost all of the physical conditioning he had lost due to age and sitting behind a desk for far too long, Hiruzen began jogging towards the walls of Konoha for the first of five laps, his students following without complaint.

.

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"Very good, Sakura." Kurenai smiled at her kunoichi student as around her the world seemed to ripple and twist in a manner that would have caused extreme disorientation to anyone who wasn't as well-trained in genjutsu as she was. "That'll do for now."

The rippling ceased as Sakura took several deep breaths and wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Hey Sensei, Sakura! We're back!" Kiba called as he loped up to them, water canteens hanging by their straps from his hands. With a mutter of thanks, Sakura took one and poured some of the water over her head to help her cool down, then drank deeply from the remaining water. "Whoah, you look beat."

"Genjutsu is a very taxing field, even for one whose chakra control is as good as Sakura's." Kurenai explained. "And with Sakura also doing iryonin training…"

"I'm not complaining!" Kiba yelped defensively, causing Sakura to chuckle quietly, then accept the energy bar that Shino handed to her. Kurenai accepted one as well.

"Thank you, Shino."

As Sakura almost inhaled her bar, Kurenai motioned for her other two Genin to be seated.

"You have all done well and I believe that you are ready for your first C-rank mission. We will collect one tomorrow, if you all agree."

"Yes!" Kiba exulted, then he shrank back under the combined gaze of the rest of the team. "…sorry."

"It is understandable that you are excited." Shino offered. "I also am looking forwards to travelling beyond the walls of the village and proving myself to be a true Shinobi of Konoha."

"Well put." Kurenai smiled. "Now, we should soon be joined by…"

"Hello the field!" A voice called and Kurenai half-turned, a small smile on her face.

"Asuma-san."

"The others are following, I decided to come ahead as I haven't met your team yet." The Jonin strode onto the training field, his gaze measuring up the trio who had risen to their feet. "An Aburame, an Inuzuka… you got yourself a good tracking combo there."

"Tracking, Recovery, Infiltration and Capture." Kurenai proudly stated, causing Asuma to whistle in amazement.

"By the Sage, you're training up a Trick squad? I don't think Konoha's had one of those since Pops was a Chunin!"

"It is one of the rarer forms of squad." Hiruzen agreed as he emerged from the treeline. "A properly-trained and deployed Trick squad can completely change the direction of combat in ways that the enemy cannot predict. Team Tsuki no Shutsu was the team that forced Kumo to completely re-organise their shinobi organisation during the Second Shinobi War, effectively taking them out of the conflict long enough for Konoha to emerge victorious."

"How did they do that?" Sakura wondered.

"They infiltrated the Kumo ranks since Kumo was aggressively recruiting nukenin to boost its forces and rose to Jonin level quickly, leading their own teams of orphans. When the time was right, they returned to Konoha with their teams, causing Kumo to have to investigate every single one of its Shinobi for fear that they were not the only group that we had deployed in their ranks."

"And what happened to the orphans…?" Sakura enquired.

"My father was one of them." Kurenai interjected. "As was Gai-san's father, Maito Duy."

"At the time, Kumo was fixated on kekkei genkai, even more than they are now." Hiruzen continued. "None of the nine had a bloodlimit, so they were seen as unimportant compared to those who had special abilities. All nine subsequently made names for themselves as Konoha Shinobi after following their Senseis here."

"…wow." Kiba breathed in awe, then he frowned. "But… Shino and I are from clans, it'll be hard for us to go undercover like that."

"That was their most well-known mission, but not their only one." Kurenai reassured her genin. "They also mapped out several important cities in the neighbouring countries and infiltrated Iwa, escaping with the maps of the Village and the area around it."

"That particular mission, coupled with the Yondaime's victory, took Iwa out of the Third Shinobi War." Hiruzen agreed. "They had lost a large percentage of their forces and discovering the infiltration meant that they had to withdraw from the field, otherwise we could have used their lack of defensive forces and knowledge of the area around their village to send in a heavy assault team or two to wreak destruction. With Iwa out of the war, we were able to take down Kiri's assault corps and force Kumo to retreat."

"…wow." Sakura breathed in awe.

"So!" Hiruzen clapped his hands to attract their attention. "Let us discuss a few of the things you may meet in the field…"

.

"Whoah!" Sakura's reflexive dodge was just enough to avoid Sasuke's strike, but even though his fist hadn't struck her stomach as he had intended, he was able to grab the waist of her dress and alter the direction of her evasion, turning it from a sideways leap to a barely-controlled tumble. As Sakura hit the ground, she felt Sasuke's arms pull her into a firm hold that had one of her own arms pressed against her neck while the other was painfully trapped behind her back. With no options left, she tapped her foot three times to indicate that she had lost.

"You've improved quite a lot since the Academy." Sasuke noted as he rose to his feet and offered his hand. Sakura grabbed it and he pulled her to her feet almost effortlessly as he continued speaking. "You've started to learn a different style… the Fuseinaken?"

Sakura nodded as she fought to bring her oxygen levels back up. "Kurenai-Sensei said… the Academy style was… not the best for me…"

"And once you learn to incorporate genjutsu into your techniques, you'll be very hard to defend against." Sasuke concluded, earning a surprised look. "I'm an Uchiha. Our combat style is designed to incorporate anything interesting that we survive going up against."

"True." Kurenai agreed as she walked up. "I've trained against several Uchiha in the past and their combat styles are rather unpredictable once you get past the basic levels. The Hyuuga, on the other hand… once you've fought one, you've fought every one up to the level of your adversary."

"My father has been encouraging us to diversify more." Hinata half-protested from where she was sat. "With the help of Maito-san, the Hyuuga are developing several variants of Jyuuken for different applications."

"The skirmish version is evil to go up against." Sasuke confirmed with a shudder. "Combining Jyuuken with acrobatics like that…"

"The weaponry version is still a work in progress." Hinata sighed.

"The what version?" Kiba choked.

"Why not show them?" Hiruzen prompted and Hinata rose to her feet, touching the storage seal on the outside of her kunai pouch. As her naginata materialized into her waiting hand, Kurenai looked at Kiba.

"Oh hell, me?"

"You." Kurenai stated as Hinata pulled out a leather cover for the blade of her weapon and tied it in place. "Pin or force out of the ring, Akamaru can help."

The ninken in question whined a question and Kurenai nodded. "Of course you can. You both need to practice those techniques, after all."

Kiba grinned and pulled a small pill out of his pouch, tossing it to Akamaru, who snapped it out of the air and swallowed it. A few seconds later, his fur began to take a reddish tinge.

"Alright! Let's do this!"

Hinata took half a step back, then sank into a defensive stance with her naginata held at an angle to aid in both blocking and striking.

"Go Hinata!" Naruto cheered as Sasuke rejoined him, followed by Sakura. Shino ambled over to them as Akamaru transformed to match the now-bestial-looking Kiba.

"You have grown stronger since we were at the Academy." Shino noted and Sasuke nodded with a smirk.

"Learning from the Hokage tends to do that. Besides, I needed to catch up with the other two somehow."

Shino seemed to buzz slightly as he contemplated the answer while Sakura looked confused. "But… you were Rookie of the Year…"

"Which means precisely nothing in the field." Sasuke shot back, then he winced. "I think Hinata lost track of which one's the real Kiba."

"It does seem that way." Shino agreed, then his eyebrows shot up as Hinata used the flat of her covered blade to deflect the airborne attacking Kiba into the one aiming for her knees. As the two tumbled, Hinata followed up with the padded leather edge of her weapon lightly stroking the neck of one and the inner thigh of the other.

"And stop!" Kurenai called.

"Yeah, I kinda lost that one big time." Kiba groaned as Akamaru reverted to his true form. "If that had been a sharp blade, I'd be bleeding out right now."

"You almost had me, Kiba-san." Hinata offered and Kiba shook his head.

"Nah, your defense was too good. I'm gonna need to seriously up my speed and agility if I want to be able to get past you."

"Gai-san?" Naruto asked and Hinata nodded.

"…gai-san?" Kiba repeated in confusion.

"Maito Gai, leader of Team Nine and rival to Team Ten's Jonin-Sensei Hatake Kakashi." Hinata explained as she re-sealed her weapon, then dropped to one knee to brush the dirt off Akamaru. As the ninken almost melted under her ministrations, she continued her explanation. "Gai-san leads a Heavy Assault Squad with emphasis on speed and power, he and his primary apprentice Rock Lee do an early-morning workout starting at six and lasting two hours. If you asked him, I am certain he would he happy for you to join them."

Kiba gave Kurenai a questioning look and when she nodded, he grinned.

"Thanks! I'll approach them this afternoon about it. Maito and Rock, right?"

"The Lee clan actually invert the order of their names." Hinata scooped up the puddle of happy fur that was Akamaru and passed him to Kiba. "They come from a very distant land and it's one of the ways that they remember their heritage."

"Caught us by surprise the first time we met Lee." Naruto agreed.

"And if you hear them beginning to shout each other's names, look away!" Hinata warned as she and Kiba left the sparring circle.

"She isn't kidding." Sasuke shivered. "Thank the Sage I wasn't using my sharingan. I hate to imagine it being even more unforgettable than it was… despite my best efforts…"

"I'll… keep that under advisement." A rather unsettled Kiba replied, much to Team Seven's combined amusement. "Hey, the feeling's coming back in my left hand… and it tingles!"

"The leather is treated so as to not block the chakra techniques being channeled through the blade." Naruto explained at Shino's quizzical look. "If Hinata-hime pokes you with her pointy stick, it's kinda like her poking you with her fingers of doom, but sharper."

"…pointy stick?" Hinata protested in mock outrage to a rising chorus of laughter.

.

.

"…and if I didn't have such huge Chakra reserves, Shino would have beaten me." Naruto admitted as they strolled towards the bakery that Sasuke had insisted they get food from. "His taijutsu needs work, though."

"It is a common problem that many Aburame have." Hinata interjected. "My father told me that they only really begin training in their clan's taijutsu style when they are seeking promotion from Chunin."

"Seems… short-sighted." Sasuke frowned and Hinata shrugged.

"In combat, the Aburame specialize in distance attacks and ambushes." She explained. "They tend not to need more than that under most circumstances. It also means that should an enemy encounter an Aburame Jonin or Tokubetsu Jonin, they will try to close in, allowing the Aburame to catch them by surprise. Before then, escape and evasion are their best methods of dealing with situations like that."

Sasuke nodded in understanding, then turned his attention to the grey-haired man reading a newspaper in front of a bakery shop. "Teyaki-san!"

"Ah, Sasuke-kun." The man quickly folded up his paper while smiling at them. "At last, you bring your team-mates to say hello."

"We've been training hard." Sasuke admitted and Teyaki nodded in understanding.

"Indeed. The life of a Shinobi is hard. So, given when it is, you are here for something to eat?"

"Three special senbei meals, please." Sasuke requested and Teyaki pulled out a trio of paper bowls from a small container, filling them each with a dozen crackers and a helping of salad. "Thank you."

Teyaki chuckled as he handed the bowls to each genin, then he turned towards the bakery.

"Uruchi-san, three specials from Sasuke-kun's account!"

"Sasuke?" A voice echoed and a moment later, a grey-haired woman clad in a simple brown dress bustled out of the bakery, a huge smile on her face. "Sasuke-kun!"

"Uruchi-oba." Sasuke returned her greeting as she pulled him into a brief hug. "I'm sorry I haven't visited recently."

"Oh, your father has been dropping by and keeping us up to date on how you are doing." Uruchi smiled as she released Sasuke from her embrace and stepped back. "Look at you, you're really growing."

"With food like this, how can I not?" Sasuke laughed.

.

"This is delicious." Naruto admitted as he looked at the half-eaten meal in his hands. "Almost as good as Ramen."

"Almost?" Sasuke sniffed as he plucked a small tomato out of his own bowl. "You barbarian."

"I like it." Hinata mumbled as she nibbled on one of the rice crackers. "I can't quite place the herbs in it, but they're very tasty."

"Uchiha Senbei is renowned for these." Sasuke held one of the disc-shaped rice-cakes up, then took a bite, chewing and swallowing before continuing. "The recipe is a closely-held secret, though."

"Just like Ichiraku's Special Ramen." Naruto nodded in understanding, earning a sigh from Sasuke.

"Must everything edible be compared to Ramen?"

"Yes, yes it must." Naruto sniffed imperiously, causing Hinata to try and muffle her sudden giggles.

.

.

"Hello!" Hana waved as Hinata led the team into the clinic, the morning sun illuminating it through the windows.

"Hello, Hana-san." Hinata gave a slight bow to the Kunoichi. "You wanted us to check the new delivery?"

"I did, and this time, the tong-kui is in proper packaging. I checked that myself before accepting it from Kenshin… I'm not sure why he looked so nervous, though."

"Perhaps because you threatened to rip his balls off and feed them to him along with a foxglove salad?" A second voice remarked and the speaker, an older woman with a significant resemblance to Hana, came into view.

"Tsume-sama!" Naruto almost teleported in front of her with a huge grin. "Is Kuromaru here too?"

"Indeed I am, kit." Another voice almost growled as the large, scarred ninken in question stalked into the room and submitted to being stroked. A moment later, he flopped to the ground as Hinata produced a comb and started to use it on him while Tsume chuckled.

"Is this normal?" Sasuke asked quietly and Hana nodded.

"Kaa-san's gone to Wave several times in the past to speak with Tsunade-sama while escorting Hinata. She's listed Ruto as a Clan Ally which is one step below being an Honorary Inuzuka."

"What on earth did Ruto do to get such an honor?" Sasuke asked in near-shock.

"More of who he is." Hana replied, earning a nod of understanding from the Uchiha.