Chapter 21 - Preparations

"Shishou!" Hinata shouted in excitement, running to Hayate. He had been waiting for her outside the academy, and she lit up as soon as she saw him.

"Heya kid!" Hayate laughed, letting her throw herself into his arms. "Glad you didn't forget about me. I thought you might decide to stick with Jiraiya." Hayate teased.

"Please, like that old man could replace you." Hinata laughed, backing away from him and looking him over. "Damn, you built up some muscle."

Hayate scratched his cheek. "Kind of hard not to, considering the shit Rō put me through."

"Was it rough?" Hinata asked in concern.

"Nahh, it wasn't that bad." Hayate said, even if he shuddered a bit inside, remembering the hellish training.

"Hmm.. alright.." Hinata didn't believe him, but she dropped it. She wouldn't make him talk about it if he didn't want to.

"Come on." Hayate said, changing the subject. "Let's head to the training ground, I want to see what you learned."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"Hokage-sama." Kakashi announced his arrival, climbing in through the window into the Hokage's office.

"Kakashi, thank you for coming." Jiraiya looked at the man standing in front of him. "I hope you've been doing well."

Kakashi shrugged. "Still adjusting, but I've been keeping busy."

"I noticed. You have the highest completed mission record for the past 2 years." Jiraiya noted, looking at a file in front of him.

"Did you have a mission for me?" Kakashi asked, hands in his pockets and looking bored.

Jiraiya smiled wryly. "In a manner of speaking." He leveled his gaze at the man. "How do you feel about taking an apprentice?"

"No." Kakashi said simply.

"Wait a minute before you refuse!" Jiraiya said, holding up a hand. "Hear me out. I have a kid in mind. He's just as talented as you were back in the day, and he needs guidance now more than ever. He has a drive to learn and I think you can guide him well."

Kakashi sighed; he knew he wasn't going to be able to get out of this without at least listening to what Jiraiya had to say. "Mahh… Who is it?"

"Uchiha Sasuke." Jiraiya said, watching Kakashi's reaction.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. 'Is this a joke? He knows my history.' "Why?" He said finally

"Like it or not, you're currently the only jōnin left in Konoha that has a sharingan. You're the best suited for guiding him." Jiraiya sighed. "Look I know you still blame yourself for what happened in the past but I really th-"

Kakashi interrupted him. "I don't know what you think you know about me. But I've moved on. I just don't want to have to babysit a brat. My answer is no." Kakashi turned to leave.

"You think you're the only one who's lost someone precious to you!?" Jiraiya stood up and yelled. Kakashi flinched, standing at the window with his hand on the sill.

"I've had six students! Six! And they're all dead! You don't have a monopoly on self pity and hatred Kakashi, and you sure as hell don't have the right to turn your back on me and walk away when I'm speaking to you." Jiraiya angrily said. "Sit down, shut up, and listen to me. It's an order from your Hokage."

Kakashi straightened his back and walked back over, falling back into his ANBU training. His face steeled and emotions hidden. "Apologies, Hokage-sama."

Jiraiya sighed and sat back. "What happened to Rin and Obito was a tragedy, but you have to stop blaming yourself, Kakashi, it's been years. You ran away to ANBU after it happened, and now, you're still running. You think they'd want to see you like this?"

"I trained Minato, I wasn't here the day he died because I was too busy chasing a teammate that betrayed his own family and home. Betrayed me. If you think there isn't a day I don't blame myself, thinking about what might have happened if I trained Minato better, if I had been here instead of chasing some fucked up fantasy of fixing things with Orochimaru and bringing him home, then you're sorely mistaken." Jiraiya said with a pained expression.

Kakashi was staring straight ahead, looking over Jiraiya's shoulder, not meeting his gaze. He showed no outward expression but he was in turmoil inside. It was like Jiraiya said, it had been years since the deaths of Rin and Obito, but he still blamed himself. He still saw them in his dreams at. He still saw his own hand sticking through Rin's chest, and Obito crushed under rocks, handing Kakashi his own eye.

"I know I messed up Kakashi, but what happened to Rin and Obito wasn't your fault. We can't remain stuck in the past Kakashi, we have to keep walking forward for the sake of the people that still need us. The people that are still here." Jiraiya watched the shinobi in front of him, trying to gauge if anything he was saying was sticking. "In a year and a half when they graduate from the academy, you will be a team leader. I can't force you to take an apprentice, but I can force you to do that."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said mechanically.

Jiraiya sighed and rubbed his head. "It's time to move on Kakashi." Jiraiya said, turning to look at the village out the window. "It's time for both of us to move on…"

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Hayate was surprised. This was his apprentice? Her growth was astonishing, and she was keeping up with the training he had given her without even breaking a sweat. 'The hell did you do to them Jiraiya?' Hayate thought to himself. Seeing this rapid growth… He realized that up until now he was really doing an injustice to her by going so easy on her.

"Alright chibi-chan, I have what I need." Hayate said, calling her over to him.

Hinata stood up from where she was doing pushups and walked over to him smiling. "You're gonna have to make me do more than that if you want to tire me out!"

"Hoh? Think you're a bigshot now?" Hayate smiled at her and raised an eyebrow. "Alright bring out your Mikazuki, I'm sure you didn't slack off on your kenjutsu training the past half year right?"

Hinata grimaced. 'Oh my god. Did I do any training in kenjutsu? I think I did, maybe, some…' "Ahahaha… Are you sure you don't want to run more laps? I can do that really well now! Hahahaa…"

Hayate could read his apprentice like a book after being with her for so many years. "Hah.. I figured that might be the case. I won't hold it against you, since Jiraiya was in charge, but we're re-doubling our efforts now. It's going to be our primary focus. Your Mikazuki style will be your signature, but for that to happen, you need to prioritize."

"Yes, shishou.." Hinata felt a little guilty, but she had been so tired for the first three months… She really should have picked back up on training kenjutsu afterwards, but she was so focused on learning kitsunebi, that she had solely focused on learning the ninjutsu.

"We're going to add a twist to the training though." Hayate smiled. "Every time I knock you down in the spar, you're going to run 10 laps at the end of training."

"This is punishment isn't it?" Hinata asked, shoulders slumping.

"Of course not! I plan on doing this from now on!" Hayate said cheerfully. "Don't like it? Get better."

Hinata looked at him in shock. "Who are you and what have you done with my shishou!?" Hinata asked jokingly, but getting a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Alright, let's begin." Hayate said, still smiling, completely ignoring her question.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Kakashi had a lot to think about. After the meeting with Jiraiya he walked aimlessly around the village, just watching the people passing by. He had tried to take his mind off of things, but even reading his favorite book didn't help. It seems getting scolded by the author had that kind of effect.

He wasn't actually meaning to, but he eventually found himself in front of the memorial stone by training ground three. He's feet moved automatically as he walked towards the stone. He looked down the list of all the shinobi and kunoichi that died in service of Konohagakure. His gaze eventually landed on Nohara Rin and Uchiha Obito.

Kakashi sighed as he looked at their names. 'What happened to Rin and Obito was a tragedy, but you have to stop blaming yourself, Kakashi, it's been years.' The words Jiraiya said to him were still echoing in his ears. 'You ran away…' He rubbed his fingers over the names of his friends. 'You think they'd want to see you like this?'

"You think I don't know that?" Kakashi spoke to himself. "I've told myself those same words countless times…" Kakashi closed his eyes and tilted his head back, standing in silence for a while, lost in memories. 'If only it was that easy…' He thought to himself.

'I'm about to die… But I'll become your eye… And see the future with you!' Kakashi remembered the words Obito said to him right before he passed.

"You'd be pretty pissed with me, wouldn't you, Obito?" Kakashi said after a while. "And Rin would kick my ass too." He smiled despite himself, remembering the girl that valued friendship more than anything.

"Mahh… An Uchiha huh?" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I can at least check him out…" Kakashi looked at the names one last time, before turning around and walking forward.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Neji was staring at the girl in front of him that was holding his book of seals in her hand. "Give it back." He ordered in a tone that showed he wasn't playing around.

"No! If you aren't training you're staring at this book! It isn't healthy, you need to sleep and eat!" Karui scolded him. "If you refuse to do at least that, I'll throw the book off the damn cliff!"

Neji narrowed his eyes at her. He was losing his patience; every day she hounded him. As if he was a child that needed to be told what to do. He was tired of it. "Give. It. Back." He enunciated every word, commanding her.

"Take it from me." She said through gritted teeth, instantly jumping backwards as Neji lunged towards her.

Neji struck at her with a palm, using the gentle fist style. He wasn't as proficient in it as he would've been if he was still being trained in his clan, but he had created a bastardized version of it that worked for him.

Karui raised a knee and blocked the palm, grimacing as the strike hit her leg. "If you won't listen to me, I'll make you listen." She tossed the book in the pouch at her side and formed seals with her hands. "Raiton: Sanda!" Countless sparks of lightning raced out her hands towards Neji.

"Raiton: Hiraishin!" Neji turned his body to the side, holding his arm out at the lightning that was racing towards him. The lightning struck his arm as if attracted to it and circulated through his body before he took a step forward, pointing his other arm at the cliff wall. The lightning that was rampaging through his body, raced down his outstretched arm and out of his body, colliding with the wall and sending rocks tumbling down.

He went to race towards her, when the cliff beneath him started to crumble. His eyes went wide as he lost his footing, falling with the rocks. "Neji!" He heard a shout and felt a hand grip his, stopping his fall as he dangled above the chasm below.

"You idiot! Are you trying to get yourself killed!" Karui shouted at him, pulling him up.

Neji sat on the ledge, staring at her. "Why do you care..?" He asked her slowly.

"What?" She looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Why do you care!?" Neji stood up shouting. "If I died you'd be free!"

"No, that's no-" She started to say something but Neji cut her off.

"They sold you like a prostitute to a kid that won't ever be accepted in their damn village!" Neji shouted. "They abducted me when I was 3-years-old and pawned you off to me! You should be furious! You should hate me! Why do you care!?"

"You're right! I didn't want this!" She hissed at him. "I don't want to be locked up with a boy just to eventually carry his babies! But at least I'm trying to make the best of our shitty situation! There's nothing we can do about it, so just fucking deal with it!" She thrusted the book into his chest. "And take your damn book back! See if I fucking care when you work yourself to death! I won't!"

Neji watched as she stormed off towards their house. When the door slammed, he stared at it for a moment before turning his gaze towards the village in the distance. He grit his teeth and stared in hatred towards the Raikage's tower before eventually turning to walk back towards the house, heart heavy and frustrated.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Kakashi arrived at the Uchiha training ground and watched as the boy, Sasuke, punched and kicked at a training dummy until his knuckles were bloody and his legs bruised. He watched as Sasuke switched to throwing kunai and shuriken when his hands hurt too much to continue practicing taijutsu.

When Sasuke ran out of ammunition to throw, he dropped onto his back and started doing sit-ups until he couldn't do any more. When he finished, he collected his shuriken and kunai and began to throw them again.

Kakashi sighed, watching the kid run himself into the ground. He saw the kids eyes as he stared at the targets he was throwing kunai at. Kakashi knew those eyes. It was like looking into a mirror of when he was a kid and had just joined ANBU. Desperate to get stronger, and willing to do anything to achieve it.

'At least he still has friends to guide him on the right path…' Kakashi thought to himself. 'But one of his friends is being trained by the Hokage, and the other by a talented tokubetsu jōnin. He probably feels like he's gonna get left behind.'

Kakashi watched as Sasuke switched to running laps, changing his pace to a sprint every quarter mile.

'He's strict on himself and determined, which is good, but he has no idea what he should be doing.' Kakashi sighed. 'He needs to learn how to focus his training down into a proper regimen instead of going all over the place…'

"Mahh… Damn you Jiraiya…" Kakashi sighed once more before disappearing from his spot and reappearing a dozen meters behind Sasuke.

"Oi, brat." Kakashi called out to him.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"I.. I can't.. do any.. anymore…" Hinata panted, as she collapsed on the ground.

She had been running the laps she owed Hayate for getting knocked down so many times during their spar. She wasn't sure if he was joking or not when he first said it, but she knew now he wasn't, in fact, joking. Not only was he not joking, he went harder on her during the spar then he ever had before.

"You still have five more laps." Hayate stated, walking over to the slug on the ground that was his apprentice.

"Can't.. Feel.. legs.." She moaned.

"Use your arms." Hayate said, mercilessly. "You're good at acrobatics, and I've seen you doing handstands."

"No.. you can't be serious…" Hinata turned to look at him incredulously. Even Jiraiya hadn't been that cruel.

"Five laps. Get going." Hayate nudged her with his foot.

"You've gotta be kidding me.." Hinata said, tucking in her shirt and getting herself up into a handstand anyways. "I'll remember this shishou." She said, eyeing the upside down man.

"Good. Then you'll know what to expect next time you can't finish your laps." Hayate chuckled, walking alongside her as she put one hand down in front of the other.

"You.. are cruel.. and evil.. and aghh!" She was going to continue venting, but felt herself tilt forward and fall over as Hayate playfully kicked her stomach.

He bent down next to her and smiled. "You were saying? I'm pretty sure I heard you say 'I want to do more laps please, oh beloved shishou.'"

Hinata just stared reproachfully at her tormentor and got back onto her hands.

"Good girl." Hayate said cheerfully. "I missed you kiddo."

It took Hinata another hour to finish the laps, walking on her hands. 'Gai and Lee do this on purpose? I seriously think they have a screw loose somewhere.'

When she finished, she had limped herself back to her house. Walking in the door, she was greeted by Hanabi sitting in the living room.

"Ah! Oneesan, you're back early tonight!" Hanabi ran over and hugged Hinata. "You stink though." She scrunched up her face and stepped away, looking at her arms that were around her sweaty sister.

"Yes, thanks. I didn't realize until you told me." Hinata said, sarcastically. "And I'm only early because shishou made me run myself into the ground and I can barely feel my limbs, let alone continue training."

"Otousan's going to be late tonight. I'm almost done cooking dinner, go get a bath."

"Hanabi, my beautiful imouto, you are an angel." Hinata said, as she limped her way to the bathroom.

"I know." Hanabi swished her hair over her shoulder with one hand and walked back into the kitchen.

"Izumi-oneesan came by earlier by the way." Hanabi called out.

"What did she want?" Hanabi heard Hinata yell from the bathroom.

"She's going on a mission, won't be back for a while. Didn't say how long." Hanabi shouted back.

"Mm. 'Kay." Hinata replied back, before the sounds of the sounds of the shower could be heard.

Hinata sat on the stool in the bathroom, looking at her body as the water showered over her. She was covered in purple and green bruises from her training. It seemed like one would heal only to be replaced by a new one a few days later.

"I really need to learn some medical ninjutsu…" She mumbled to herself. "Seriously, this is getting ridiculous…"

She finished her bath almost an hour later and finally felt almost like a human again. Walking back into the kitchen, she found dinner on a plate and Hanabi doing her own dishes.

"Seriously girl, I love you." Hinata said, wincing as she lowered herself into the seat.

"Love you too." Hanabi said, kissing the top of her head. "Especially when you don't smell awful. Seriously, what are you doing for your training? I know Hokage-sama was running you ragged but isn't your shishou back?"

"I don't know what he went through exactly, but it seems like he's trying to compete with Jiraiya now as to who can torture me more." Hinata said, as she ate the fish Hanabi had prepared.

"You could say something." Hanabi pointed out. "If you asked him to lay off a bit, he probably would."

"I don't want him too.." Hinata sighed. "I really don't mean to complain, it's just that pain makes me grumpy. I just like venting."

"Hmmm, fine. But if it gets to be too much, promise me you'll say something?"

"Yeah, yeah fine. I can deal with it though."

"Uh huh, cause you have to be the strongest. Isn't that right?" Hanabi smirked to herself, drying off the dishes.

"What, you don't think I can be the strongest?" Hinata asked, faking being offended.

"I don't know~" Hanabi teased. "But it's good to have dreams."

"I take it back. You're not an angel." Hinata said, eating another bite. "You're a devil that just happens to be good at cooking."

Hinata finished eating and thanked the little devil, before going to her room and crashing into her bed. She laid awake for a while staring at the ceiling.

"To be the strongest huh?" Hinata whispered to herself. "Like that could ever happen." She scoffed before closing her eyes and falling into a deep sleep.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Jiraiya looked down at his new apprentice. This was the first time they'd be training alone, and since it was Saturday and Naruto didn't have to be at the academy, Jiraiya had taken the day off to train him.

"Alright brat, do it again." Jiraiya had him practicing the ninjutsu he had taught him. Naruto seemed to have a hard time controlling the chakra within him and had almost dislocated his jaw the first time he attempted the ninjutsu.

"Fūton: Kūdan!" Naruto shouted before sucking in a deep breath and shooting a dozen bullets of air out of his mouth that flew forward, smashing into a tree and drilling holes into it that were about the width of two fingers.

"Better." Jiraiya noted. "But once you get more control, with the absurd amount of chakra you have, you'll be able to shoot out a continuous stream of bullets."

"Alright!" Naruto pumped his fist. "Look!" He pointed at the tree. "There's one more hold than last time!"

"Hah, so there is!" Jiraiya grinned. "Make some clones and have them practice it, I want you to work on something else."

"'Kay." Naruto summoned five shadow clones and set them to work before following after Jiraiya.

Jiraiya stopped as they got to a clearing in the forest they were currently in.

"You haven't had any training in taijutsu yet have you?" Jiraiya corrected himself quickly. "Outside of the academy I mean."

"No, none. Usually I just outlast whoever I'm fighting." Naruto stated.

"I see.. We have some work to do then." Jiraiya thought for a moment before continuing. "Alright, so when you all graduate from the academy, you're going to be put on three man teams. Yes, even you and Hinata." Jiraiya said, seeing that Naruto was about to ask.

"It's not that it's going to be the end of your apprenticeships or anything like that, but it's necessary you all learn how to work on a team. Being strong is worthless if you can't work together and end up accidentally hurting your allies while you fight."

Naruto nodded in confirmation.

"It's good you understand. The teams you'll be assigned to will be your future teammates when you become chūnin and you'll probably be paired together for some missions as jōnin as well. You'll have the best synergy with the ones you trained with, after all."

"Who am I going to be paired with?" Naruto asked.

"Can't say yet. It's going to be based on both grades and perceived synergy." 'And a little bit of nepotism.' Jiraiya snorted to himself, thinking of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

"Anyways, I want to make sure you're up to par with the others in taijutsu. If we can get you skilled with a suitable fighting style, then with your stamina and tenacity, you'll be a force to be reckoned with." Jiraiya smiled. "I'm not gonna teach you just anything boy. I'm gonna teach you a fighting style that we'll build off of in the future, We'll work on the mechanics of the form now, and add in the jutsu used along with it later when you're older."

"What's the fighting style?" Naruto asked, in excitement.

"Frog kata!" Jiraiya grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

"Ehhh…?" Naruto looked taken aback and disappointed.

"Don't look down on frogs! Or toads for that matter!" Jiraiya said defensively. "You should know they call me the toad sage for a reason!"

"I thought it was cause you kind of resembled a toad…" Naruto mumbled.

"Eh? I didn't quite catch that." Jiraiya said, leaning in close.

"Uhh. Nothing, nothing!" Naruto said, waving his hands.

"Cheeky brat, watch here and witness the might of toads!" Jiraiya jumped far away from Naruto and bit his thumb before placing his hand on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

There was a massive puff of smoke as an absolutely massive toad was summoned. Jiraiya was currently standing on his head, grinning down at the boy that was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"Pretty impressive huh!?" Jiraiya said, excitedly.

Naruto looked at the massive toad, that was dressed in a blue happi vest, with a blade on his hip and a pipe in his mouth that he was currently smoking from.

"Eh!? This the brat Jiraiya?" The massive toad leaned down to inspect Naruto more closely. "Doesn't look like much." He said bluntly.

"Huh!? What did you say, you stupid frog!?" Naruto shouted back up angrily.

"Frog!? Brat, do you believe I'll step on you!?" The toad shouted back angrily, causing some birds to fly away in fear.

"Naruto, calm down. Gamabunta won't acknowledge anyone he doesn't respect. And you haven't earned his yet." Jiraiya said, jumping down with a flip and landing in front of Naruto.

"Was this all you called me for Jiraiya?" Gamabunta grunted out in annoyance.

"Yeah, I just wanted to show off your mightiness." Jiraiya grinned sheepishly. "You can go back."

Gamabunta just grunted, letting out a stream of smoke from his pipe, and disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"Impressive right?" Jiraiya looked at Naruto.

"Yeah sure, but his attitude could be better.." He said in annoyance.

"Hah! I've known Gamabunta for years, and he's always been like that. Even I can't change how he acts." Jiraiya laughed before saying in a quiet voice under his breath. "Even I can only ask him to do things.. Ordering him? Not a chance.."

"Hm?" Naruto tilted his head.

"Nothing, nothing. Come on, I have a fighting style to teach and a limited amount of time." Jiraiya said, walking over to him. "Watch closely, I'll show you the first steps..."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Neji laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about what happened earlier. He could hear Karui breathing in the bed on the other side of the room. He knew she wasn't asleep though. She talked in her sleep and she was being oddly silent right now.

He struggled with something before speaking in almost a whisper. "What if we could though..?"

"What?" He heard back from the other side of the room.

"What if we could do something about it..?" He said again, with a little more confidence.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

A/N: Hey everybody! Thank you so much for reading up to this point! I hope you all are enjoying my story. This chapter marks the end of the 'pre-genin arc', I guess you could call it. Next chapter will finally be the start of their adventure as genins!

Thank you again for the support! 3