"Say, 'Kashi sensei?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you sure that we can't kill our client? Like, one hundred percent sure?"

"Yes Naruto, I have read the rules and guidelines and I am absolutely sure." Kakashi send his youngest student an amused look before focusing on the book in his hand again.

Naruto pouted and let himself fall back to where Chi was walking. Sasuke and Sakura were on either side of the group, having been tasked to look around for any enemies. Although those enemies wouldn't be stupid enough to let themselves get spotted by kids.

The sun shone brightly like it had for the past weeks but the tall trees provided shadow and coolness. It was warm day with not much wind at all. He hoped that it would stay like this. And that we won't meet any trouble on the way. Kakashi eyed Tazuna, the man managed to be hungover and drunk at the same time. He dragged his feet, cursed and grumbled at everything and reeked so strongly of alcohol that both Naruto and Kakashi had to give him a berth of two meters to be able to breathe normally. He never realized how sharp the blond's senses were and he didn't like to think why.

With the original Team 7 occupied for various reasons, it left Chi to stay close to the client. Said girl was glaring holes in the back of the silver-haired man's head. The man simply ignored her in favor of the adventures of Miko-chan in the bathhouse.

Chi had argued that the Jonin should stay close to the client to protect him. He had replied that he wanted to protect all of them and thus should walk in front of them. It had earned him a couple of disbelieving stares and a very honest Naruto telling him that his 'awful' training methods were more likely to kill them than a group of rogues. Besides, the kid continued, they were strong enough to protect themselves.

He had almost laughed at that. These kids only just graduated. Sure they were trained for the fighting and killing, but they weren't experienced enough. Not to mention that most of the battles are those of wit and deception. Ninja's weren't honorable knights in shining armor. They were the backstabbing sorcerers, the anti-hero's, the snake in a group. Something those kids still had to learn. Especially if Danzo got any more power in the future.

On a whim, he stretched his senses to analyze the group. Kakashi marveled at the sheer heat and power radiating from the two dead-lasts. Naruto drowned out nearly everyone around him with his ocean of chakra. Chi was the only one he could sense properly besides him, her chakra was cold and unpleasant, unlike Naruto's. The blond's chakra was like a warm hand sooting the ache in his chest. It was the sign that he was given a second chance. A chance to make up to the teacher who died for the village, to make up for the boisterous kid he had called his friend only after he had died. Kakashi wanted to make things right.

Behind him, Naruto wanted to make things fun. So he approached his brown haired teammate.

"Hey Chi?"

"Yeah?" She gave him a sideways look.

"How about a match?" Naruto grinned mischievously.

"Of what?" Chi knew her friend all too well. Last time she had agreed without questioning, they had ended up cleaning yellow slime off the Hokage Tower. She could still smell the nasty, chemical scent of bananas and glue on her clothes. Of course, it had only been a week ago

"Of whoever reaches Kakashi sensei first!"

Chi looked at the teacher walking just ahead of them, head buried in that suspicious book. "He's only over there, ya know? That's hardly a race."

"Then, lets see who can climb that tree the fastest!"

"We are on guard duty! Besides, if we climb then the group will have to stop. We will only take longer to get there."

"Then, how about whoever reaches Wave first?"

"Dude, stop. That's still two days away."

"Awh..."

"Just... Walk ahead and tell me what you see."

"Sure thing!" He burst forward and started to loudly call out every tree, squirrel and flower he saw.

Sakura groaned and readjusted her backpack. Though she had not packed a lot of clothes, her kit was pretty heavy. She stole a jealous glance at Chi who was walking around without any backpack whatsoever. She didn't even have the usual weapon pouch!

Come to think of it, that is pretty suspicious. Mom and dad did tell me to be wary of her. Wonder why. Sakura wiped the sweat of her forehead and walked closer, still keeping an eye out for the trees.

"Hey, where are your stuff?"

Chi looked up in surprise at being talked to "Huh? Oh-" she showed the brace around her wrist, "I sealed all of it."

Sakura squinted and could make out a finely carved seal on the steel. "That's pretty useful."

Pretty damn useful. Imagine the possibilities! She pondered for a bit and decided to swallow her pride. "Say, can you teach me?"

"Sure!" Chi shrugged "It's no problem."

The pinkette's face lit up and she went back to her position. She walked for two more steps before she froze and Inner-Sakura screeched. Oi! What about her being suspicious huh?! She could be dangerous! Sakura groaned.

"-big tree, small tree, yellow flower, puddle, little mouse, red flower-" Naruto kept on chanting until Sasuke lobbed a small stone at his head. The boy whirled around immediately, undoubtedly excited at the thought of a fight.

"Bastard, you wanna fight?!" Naruto growled and turned on the raven.

The latter scoffed "You're too loud. No one needs to kno-"

He walked straight into Kakashi's back. Before he could react however, the Jonin barked an order.

"Formation 3, now! Chi take the rear."

The Genin started and flashed in place, Naruto at the front, Sasuke right and Sakura left of Tazuna. The man himself was frozen in fear. For a moment it was quiet until a soft whistle sounded. Something huge blurred in front of Kakashi and in a split second, the silhouette of the Jonin distorted. Sakura felt bile rise up her throat as blood and guts flew around. Tears welled up in her eyes as the memory engraved itself in her mind.

Sensei... is gone?

It was unreal, to her Kakashi was invincible. To her left she could hear Naruto's ragged breathing and Chi's gritted teeth. She barely noticed the gray projectile coming at them until a blue and white figure jumped up and kicked it down.

"Sasuke-kun!" She gasped.

The boy grunted and twisted, throwing shurikens at the two men. They looked like the epitome of brute and monstrous with their huge gauntlets and wide cloaks. One of them looked at her and she gasped when the narrow pupils focused on her. He took a step forwards, easily avoiding Sasuke's assault, and launched a series of senbon at her. A scream tore from her lips as she saw no chance to avoid them. Sasuke's eyes widened, he was too far away and had to keep his eyes on the other man.

Naruto stopped thinking. He pushed himself off the ground and shielded his teammate. A dozen of sharp needles embedded themselves in his crossed arms and he allowed a hiss in pain. Sakura yelped in shock and caught him when he fell. Something yellow blurred passed them and the attacking men suddenly found themselves faced with the last Genin. Sasuke quickly jumped next to her, hands ready for his fire jutsu.

Chi was pissed. She reached in her haori and pulled her kyoketsu-shoge out. The blade shone in the sunlight for a brief moment as it spun around, creating a whistling sound just like the giant shuriken of the men had.

Now what? Sasuke frowned, eying the rotating blade. One of the men grinned and looked at the other. As one they stepped forward and swung their weapon ahead.

"Get behind!" Chi grabbed her blade and jumped in front of the boy. With a grunt, she caught the shuriken with her weapon. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he jumped up, forming seals as he did.

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu!"

A huge ball of fire flew at the two men, but jumped away. The shuriken fell to the ground. Chi looked at the chains, they weren't connected anymore.

"Sasuke!"

He landed next to her. "I know." You don't need to tell me.

Honestly Kakashi sensei, was this the time to get yourself killed? Chi though exasperatedly, ignoring the rapid pulsing in her veins. It looked like they might be able to defeat those two but- seeing how easily they got Kakashi- she had her doubts. Sasuke was feeling no better. They sensei was supposed to be one of Konoha's best, and he got torn apart like it was nothing. Red eyes invaded his mind and he pinched his thigh to stay alert.

The two men let out a near identical chuckle and walked closer. Both Genin tensed up. Chi noted the masks and got reminded of a past encounter. Her muscles started protesting at being restrained. The chains glowed and heated up due to the amount of chakra Chi was radiating. They tightened around her stomach, making her gasp for air. The ground cracked around her feet. Sasuke forced himself to stay on his spot despite his instincts screaming for escape.

The gray cloaks flew up. Chi and Sasuke braced themselves but the attack never came. In a long two-second sequence, a white flash appeared and both attackers found themselves buried with their heads in the ground. Neither twitched anymore.

"Good job kids." Kakashi clapped his hands and send them a lazy eye smile. Sasuke's jaw almost dropped, his heart light all of a sudden.

Chi sighed and fell in a crouch. "That was too much, sensei."

"Maa, was it-"

"KAKASHI SENSEI GET OVER HERE!" All three looked up, Kakashi stalked past them. Behind the two was Sakura holding a sweating Naruto. Surrounding them were the senbon. The sensei crouched next to them.

"Sensei, he's not waking up and he's sweating so much!"

Kakashi nodded, examining the boy before picking up a senbon and squinting at the tip.

"It's a good thing you pulled the senbon out, but be careful next time. They could have hit a vital spot." Sakura, face ashen, nodded and reached in her opened med-kit to grab some tissues. Kakashi grabbed Naruto's wrist, the pulse was strong and fast. Sasuke and Chi gathered behind him.

"What's with him? Those were just needles." Sasuke said and received a punch to his arm as answer. Chi glared at him.

"Those two are called the Demon brothers, their weapons are poisoned." Kakashi answered before a fight could break out.

Naruto moaned in pain and shook his head as if he were in a nightmare. Kakashi looked at him with pity. "He'll be fine-" The Kyuubi won't let him die."but we have to rest for a while."

He stood up, to his full length, and looked over at the Genin. "Are you hurt?"

They all shook their heads.

"Where is our client?"

Chi sent a worried glance at Naruto before answering "I left him in the tree."

She pointed up at a large chestnut. The Team 7's eyes followed the direction and paused on the trembling man who had his limps wrapped around the trunk in an attempt to stay safe. His eyes were shut.

"Did you think that he might not be able to stay there?"

Her mouth opened and closed again without a reply. Kakashi had to smile and went to fetch the man. "Remember that next time."

He dropped Tazuna, who stumbled to the nearest tree and fainted- no one went to help him up- and then went to take care of Naruto. The punctures were already closed and a peek at Sakura showed that she had not noticed. She kept herself busy with wiping the sweat off his forehead. Kakashi told her to go and set up a simple camp with the rest and picked the orange boy up.

He's too light. He made a mental note to check the kid's diet, and went to lay him down in the shadows. Then he got up and tied the Demon Brothers to a tree and pinned a note on their cloaks. It seemed that they weren't immune to their own poison and thus still unconscious. Kakashi figured that if they weren't found in two days, they would die.

The camp was set up fairly quick and soon the four shinobi and one drunkard were seated against the trees, a bit further from the path. Sasuke looked at him "How did you know?"

Kakashi send a smile at him "Naruto told me."

"Huh?" The comical confusion was a refreshing change on the canvas-like face.

"Remember when he started calling out everything in the scenery?"

"...Yes?"

"Well, he said that there was a puddle. A puddle is made by rain, but it hasn't rained in weeks."

The confusion cleared and he saw Chi steal a glance at Tazuna. Her eyes were suspicious. As expected of Ibiki's student. He looked at his own students and saw that they were again immersed in their own activities. He let out a mental sigh. He really needed to up their training. Luckily (or not?) Iruka had already foreseen this for some reason, and had made him write down a new schedule. He wanted to start as soon as possible; the deadline was nearing after all.

"Now, while we are waiting for Naruto's system to take out the poison, how about I teach you guys how to make a storage seal?"

Because walking around with bulging backpacks really isn't cool or healthy or ninja-like.

Chi raised her hand, question obvious.

"You don't have to." He nodded at her.

She nodded back and walked over to his side, where Naruto was laying, and sat down. Sasuke send her a glare. Kakashi gave his blond student a look before focusing again and produced a small scroll from his pouch. When the papers, brushes and bottle of ink poofed in existence, neither Sasuke or Sakura (or Tazuna) could hide their surprise. He allowed a small grin. The improved training was going tot start today.

Three hours later~

Kakashi looked at the small orange back that was a good couple of meters ahead of him. Naruto was marching forward and would have ran if Kakashi hadn't stopped him. He sighed.

"Naruto?"

"Naruto?"

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

No answer. Kakashi tried again "Naruto-kun?"

"..."

"They only learned about storage seals, which you already know." Kakashi called out. Naruto huffed and walked faster. Sakura and Chi were hiding their smiles behind their hands. Sasuke was annoyed again. He looked back just in time to stop himself from crashing into Naruto's back. The boy twirled around and poked an accusing finger at his flack jacket.

"I can't believe you trained them without me!"

Kakashi wanted to smack his forehead but that would do more harm than good and so he put his best I-am-sorry eye-smile on. "Maa, I was only making sure that they were all on the same level as you are."

The blue eyes lit up, but with all the pride an orange-clad-twelve-year-old ninja could muster, he still looked away. "Don't think that that's enough."

But the Jonin could hear the waver in his voice. He reached out and ruffled the blond locks.

"Forgive me? I won't do it again, promise."

His heart clenched when the oh so familiar eyes locked with his sole eye. A boyish grin spread over the boy's lips, making him look the way he had looked as the nine year old whom ANBU-Kakashi had caught trying to kidnap a deer from the Nara Compound.

"Okay, I forgive you. But it's going to cost ya a week of ramen!" He grinned and jumped away, laughing out loud. His sensei smiled and pulled his book out, it couldn't hurt to spend some money on his students. I won't buy him more than two bowls though...

In Konoha, same time~

"She is growing well, I suppose?"

"Yes... She is."

"But?"

Ibiki stood a little straighter. His skin was crawling. There were at least ten guards hidden around him, in the shadows near the trashcans and corners in the alley besides the office. How he wished that he was strong enough to take them all on!

"I do not believe she is capable of being an ANBU."

It was silent for a while. The old man in front of him- So fragile and old, yet I still can't kill him- looked him in his eyes.

"I will be the judge of that."

Ibiki gritted his teeth. "Surely you have not forgotten what happened with the other Ketsueki who joined the ANBU? They went on and murdere-"

"They did their jobs well. That is all that we need. That is all that Konoha needs."

The single eye send shivers down Ibiki's spine. Ibiki wished he could use the bandages to strangle him.

"I expect a better report next time."

He turned around and vanished along with his guards. The interrogator sighed in relief and sagged against the wall. Damn you, Danzo Shimura. Damn you all the way to Hell.

Two windows up, Nara Shikaku and the Third Hokage shared a grim look. The Third had received information from his personal guards that Danzo and his own guards were spotted near the T&I building. Hiruzen had wasted no time in gathering the Jonin commander and used a variety of prepared seals (courtesy of the Jiraiya and his late student) to hide their presence. Both of them had listened to the conversation and neither had to ask about the thoughts of the other.

"Ibiki is in trouble." Shikaku said, rubbing his forehead.

"Indeed. Where is Team 11?" The Hokage asked.

"Ryuya is training with Kanzo-san. Shinji is driving the interrogators department mad with her questions. Chi is on her way to the Land of Waves with Team 7." The Jonin remembered Ibiki rushing out right after his student had left. The man didn't admit it, but the girls had become his weak spot.

The Third nodded slowly, clasping his pipe between his lips. "We will have to wait and see how this develops. Once the Chuunin Exams are finished we can discuss her future."

Shikaku searched his pockets for his cigarettes and lighter. He needed some nicotine to get his mind to stop predicting different outcomes. The situation wasn't as bad as it could have been. Danzo was still only using words, Chi still hated the ANBU and wasn't skilled enough to pass the test anyway. Besides, she was still a Genin. The deal was to wait until she had at least become a Chuunin.

It could change though. Danzo was never a patient man, as soon as the possibility opened up he would try to teach the girl himself. Get her to learn and improve the horrible techniques of her clan. Once that happens, chances were she would go down the same path as her mother.

They needed her to remain a jack of all trades, but never let her become a master of them. At least not until Danzo was out of the way. Shikaku lit his cigarette and inhaled "I hope Ibiki can last that long."

The Hokage didn't reply.

Land of Waves, that evening~

The man was pressed against the back of his chair by his own will. It was an impressive feat, seeing as he barely fit in. Sweat rolled down his forehead and nose in beads, his already overworked heart beat furiously and his breathing was ragged. Still, he wore a massive scowl on his face.

The demon in front of him saw right through it and slowly lifted his unnecessary large sword up. The edge was dangerously close to the man's nose.

"It seems like you have some problems eh?"

Gato mustered all of his courage and remained silent. The demon grinned. There was a white spot on the right side at the end of the room. Gato couldn't focus on it but he was sure that it was a person. Another one who wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

When the silence continued for too long, he answered. "Those low class bandits were a waste of money."

"As is almost everyone against Hatake." The tall man growled and suddenly dropped the Kubikiribōchō, it buried itself in the ground. "I will go after him and the old man."

"I suppose you won't fail?"

Bad move. The giant sword dragged a long line over his foot. Blood made its way between his toes, warm and sticky.

Zabuza looked him straight in the eyes "I am the Demon of the Mist, do not forget that."

He turned around, swung his weapon over his shoulder and walked out the room. Gato let out a shaky breath before letting a smirk slip on his face. Soon he would be able to finish what he had started. He looked at the door again and noticed that the white spot was gone as well.

"Rest in peace, pesky Konoha nin." He grinned "Or should I say, Rest in pieces!"

He burst out laughing.