Kurama is curious.

He has heard the plans the boys came up with. Their plans were laughably simple and downright devious at the same time. He almost spoke up when the kids figured out he was forcibly released on the day of Naruto's birth, but only held back because of the Nara kid's deduction of Naruto being deliberately isolated.

It doesn't take the millennia of accumulated wisdom to figure out the purpose, and Kurama is left seething in anger. So, someone thinks they can weaponize the kid, weaponize me. Well, they seriously underestimated the sheer stubbornness of an Uzumaki. The masked Uchiha bastard can wait, whichever bastard is trying play with their lives needs to be buried first. So, he keeps his silence and listens to the kids plan. Kurama notices how they slowly push Naruto to think critically, and how differently Naruto responds to people who are actually listening to what he has to say.

Kurama has felt the anger seething in the mini-Minato brat, and knows he's waiting. The child isn't very patient, but he's holding himself back. After his meeting with the Hatake brat, he asks Kurama about Kushina and how she might have handled the whole thing. For once, Kurama is happy to talk about one of his jailors, because honestly, he thinks he would've enjoyed seeing her reaction. He can almost taste the screams of horror Kushina's rampage would've caused. The damn fools deserved to scream.

Naruto's silent long after Kurama finishes talking. So, he probes further. "Brat, you better not be thinking about letting this slide, like you usually do."

"I don't -"

"Yes, you do." Kurama cuts in. "People keep spitting at you and you keep on taking it with a smile in your face. At the first hint of kindness, everything is forgotten and forgiven. Just like what you did with that scarfaced teacher of yours."

Naruto frowns. "Iruka sensei? Hey! He's a nice person, he's the only one other than Gramps and Teuchi san to acknowledge me."

"Maybe. But by doing that, he conveniently forgot his other duty that should have taken precedence." Kurama can tell the kid's confused, so he elaborates. "Tell me brat, why did you fail the exam?"

"Because I couldn't do the clone jutsu."

"And how many times did you fail?"

"Three times." Naruto grumbles. "I hope there's a point to this furball."

"Oh, I'm getting there. Be patient, brat." Kurama snaps. "Now tell me, how did you finally graduate?"

"By capturing the traitor Mizuki and mastering the shadow clone jutsu." Naruto scowls as the realization sets in. Shadow clone jutsu. A high chakra consuming variant of a standard clone jutsu.

Variant.

"Too bad. Try harder next time, Naruto."

"Focus, Naruto. Why can't you get this simple thing right?"

"Can you do anything right, Naruto?"

"Stop goofing around, Naruto. Everyone else has already mastered this."

"Don't you want to pass, Naruto?"

Try harder."

Always scolding, never once pointing out what went wrong. Or how to fix the mistakes. Over and over, the same thing happened. Disapproving looks and chiding words were all he got, even after Iruka took over their class. Sure, the occasssional company and free ramen helped brighten his days of loneliness, but the realization that it came at the expense of actual help he desperately needed, stung. It still stings. Anger begins to boil inside him, slowly bubbling up before he explodes. He punches a nearby post with a roar, which causes the nearby pedestrians to freeze in fear. "Son of a... I was repeatedly screwed over by almost everyone, wasn't I?"

Kurama grunts in agreement. "And now that you finally realize this, I ask again. Are you going to let them keep screwing you over, or are you going to do something about it?"

Naruto takes a few deep breaths to calm himself, in vain. "What do I do?"

In his cage, Kurama grins. "I don't care what you do with that teacher of yours, but this bastard who leaked your identity to the village - whoever it is, make sure they're buried six feet under. They think they can manipulate me through you, that's unforgivable."

Naruto snorts. "How do you propose doing that? The Elders council has about the same level of political power as the Hokage himself. I can't just waltz into the chambers and snap their necks."

For once, Kurama is glad for the time he spent sealed inside Mito and Kushina, and the political knowledge he gained through them. He might not care for it, but this time, it's useful. "Patience. Whoever is pulling the strings, has experience doing it. Which means this isn't the first time they've done something like this. Your friends are right, you need information. Find that, and you'll find your weapon."

Naruto pauses, carefully considering the Fox's words. "That's... uncharacteristically sensible of you, furball. I would've thought you'd go for the rain-down-blood-and-fire route."

"Tch, you're a ninja. There will be time for blood and gore, I can wait. Besides, I'm a fox. We're known for our slyness and cunning. Which is what you'll need to see this through."

As he finishes explaining, Kurama can feel Naruto's brain working. The brain of a pissed off prankster. Kurama rubs his hands in anticipation. He can't wait for the chaos these children are going to create. Deciding he'd help the second they ask for it, is an easy choice to make.

"Alright brats, listen up." Anko screams at the top of her voice, too amused at the disgruntled looks on her genins' faces. It's 5 in the morning, and only Naruto looks completely awake. Even the usually stoic Shino looks partially asleep. Shikamaru looks like he's about to keel over.

"It's too early to be this cheerful. Troublesome women." Shikamaru mutters under his breath.

Anko grins at the boy. "What? Still sleepy, minions? Maybe fifty laps around the training ground would wake you up." Huh, I might actually enjoy this.

Even Naruto gulps hearing this. He nudges the Nara in his ribs, straightening the boy up. "Uhh, no need sensei. We're up."

Anko's grin fades. "That wasn't a suggestion, brats. Get moving. Now!"

Her tone promises something painful if they don't start running, and the boys look completely awake at that. Shino and Naruto starts running, the latter pulling Shikamaru along.

The run proves interesting, as it gives her the first insight into the physical capabilities of her students. The Nara drops on the grass after the thirtieth lap (though she thinks it's due to his laziness rather than exhaustion.), the Aburame lasting nearly a full ten laps extra. The Uzumaki however, barely looks winded after his fiftieth lap. He even has the balls to shoot her a challenging look, as if he's asking, is that it?

Anko nudges the still form of Shikamaru with her foot. "You alive?"

"No." Comes the reply, along with a groan.

"Too bad. Sit up." She gestures the Uzumaki to join them, as Shino pulls Shikamaru up. Anko tosses the three water bottles from her scroll, as Naruto drops down next to Shikamaru.

"Now that you're properly awake, we can start. First, I know you guys have some questions, since the make up of this team is highly unusual. So, let's hear them."

The three genin share a look that doesn't go unnoticed by Anko, confirming her previous comment to the Hokage about their teamwork - the dynamics are present already. She only needs to get them to polish it. She also notices the subtle way both the Nara and Aburame looked to Naruto for the final word.

As expected, it's Shikamaru who speaks up first. "I guess I'll start with the obvious one. Why us specifically?"

That isn't the question she was expecting to hear, but it piques her interest. Perhaps an early warning that I should be prepared for the unexpected with these kids... "A potential ninjutsu powerhouse the likes of which the world has never seen before, a born logician and scout, whose connection to the hive he hosts run more deeper than anyone in his clan, past or present, a slumbering genius with a deductive capability of a seasoned investigator and a strategic mind that can read and analyze any situation with the bare minimum of information. On paper, this is the most rounded team to exist, perfect for a first response squad."

Shino perks up. "So why aren't we one?"

Anko allows herself to show a slight smirk. "What I just listed are abilities in you that were either actively nurtured, or in blondie's case, a quirk of genetics. You were brought together however, for the abilities you nurtured yourself, without outside interference. Mr. Lazy butt over here," She gestures towards Shikamaru, "whenever forced to do any physical activity, always found the easiest, way, one with the least affort and least risk. If he was unable to find such a way, he didn't bother doing them. I don't think I'll have to explain how that would translate to infiltration tactics."

Shikamaru grumbles under his breath, causing Anko to grin. Shino gives a small nod, while Naruto is chuckling openly.

Anko continues after a short pause, turning towards Shino. "Tell me, bug boy. How many of your fellow comrades have you tagged so far?"

Shino stares at his sensei for a moment before deflating. "The entirety of my classmates with the exception of Naruto-san, including our teachers and you, Sensei."

Anko widens her grin. "That, and the fact that he holds the third highest stealth score by any academy student. Care to guess who the other two are? I'll give you a clue- one of them was your classmate."

Shikamaru looks up at that. "Stealth scores?"

"Ah, an independent assessment conducted by the Hokage and a handful of his most trusted shinobi. Not part of your academy scorecards."

"Please don't tell me it's the broody bastard." Naruto whines.

Anko blinks owlishly, and then snorts. "No, blondie. The highest score is held by my dear old bastard sensei, Orochimaru himself. The second rank is shared by two people, actually. Itachi Uchiha, and you, my cute little Genin."

Every Genin present drops their jaw at that proclamation, including Naruto himself. The deafening silence that follows stretches on comfortably, and Anko is okay with letting it be. She knows there will be more questions, and she has a few ideas on what they will be.

The silence is broken by a dry chuckle from Shikamaru. "Do you think we should add pranks into the team exercises, Sensei?"

Anko flashes him a grin. "Way ahead of you, squirt. I have that, and more planned."

Naruto raises both his hands into the air, grinning like a maniac. "Yatta. This is going to be awesome."

Shino puts his hand up. "Question. What's a ninjutsu powerhouse doing in an infiltration squad? While I understand the benefits of such a placement, Naruto-san's massive chakra reserves means he'll stick out like a shining beacon to a sensor, not to mention majority of the ninjutsu techniques aren't exactly stealthy."

Naruto growls, clearly offended. "Hey! I'll have you know..."

"He's right." Anko cuts in, causing Naruto to choke on his words. "What?"

Anko shrugs non-apologetically. "Any halfway competent sensor could pick you up even from a considerable distance. "

Naruto huffs in annoyance. "So why was I put on this team?"

Anko holds up two fingers. "Two reasons. One, you're not just an infiltration unit, you're also a sabotage unit, and you're one hell of a prankster, kid. Replace your glitter bombs with explosive tags, paintbombs with acid, make your spring traps a bit more lethal, and you'll be quite a force. Two, our job definition dictates your time on field will be spent behind enemy lines. You're not always going to get away scot-free, and when that day comes - believe me, it will come sooner than you think - you blondie, would be the deciding factor on whether this team makes it out in one piece or not."

Naruto gulps nervously, and Anko is happy to see the blonde has grasped the true nature of his responsibility. As he is now, he's far from the unstoppable force she described him to be, but he will be. Of that, she's sure. Because it's her job to make sure of that, and she will see it done.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that you're upto the task by that time." Anko declares, and Naruo sags in relief.

She glances at Shikamaru and Shino, and wonders how the two would progress. The Nara, as their reputation suggests, is lazy and unmotivated, but his eyes seem to pick up a lot more than any normal person can. He's likely going to be a pain in the ass to train, but she's noticed a certain amount of protectiveness in him towards his team, Naruto specifically. It's been that way since his secret came out two days ago. Her snake summons was keeping an eye on them throughout their little planning session yesterday, and if what she heard is true, the boy is willing to put in an effort when it comes to the welfare of his team.

The Aburame is silent, observant and is open to ways to improve himself. Perhaps it's due to his closeness to his hive, the determination to do his part in the group shines through - just like any active member of a hive.

Looking at these children, she can't help but remember her own Genin team. And you're going to lead them to their deaths, just like you did with your team - whispers a small part of her mind that sounds eerily similar to her old Sensei. She pushes the voice away and focuses on the present.

Shikamaru sighs a bit too dramatically. "Which means I'll have to pull my weight and a bit more just to keep up. Troublesome."

Anko sees the small smile on his face, and by their reaction, so does Shino and Naruto. The blonde grins brightly, and the trio bumps their fists. The sight reminds Anko of an old shinobi legend that she'd heard other Jonins talk about when she was young. Watching the gleam in the genins' eyes, she wonders what they felt - is the old saying true? Did they glimpse into each other's hopes and dreams and fears? If so, what would they have seen?

Naruto's voice shakes her awake from her thoughts. "Hey sensei? What are we training in today? Is it a super cool jutsu? Could you teach us a super cool one? Could you? Could you?"

He's visibly vibrating where he's sitting, and Anko has to bite down the laughter threatening to escape. This is going to be fun. "Calm down, brat. You need to improve your chakra control first. Once you have that down, we'll go over the basics. Then, we can move on to the cool jutsu part."

"Eh? But those are boring, sensei!" He whines, pouting.

"Listen, blondie. Chakra control is the single most essential thing a shinobi must learn. Without optimal control, you would either run out of chakra too soon, or your jutsu can malfunction causing either tge technique to fail, overpower it, or blow up your chakra coils - depending on the type of jutsu you're using. If something like that happens during a fight, you'll be dead, and so will your teammates. Is that something you want to happen?"

Naruto shakes his head no, looking chastised. Anko pushes a bit further.

"I thought a Hokage was supposed to do everything in his power to protect his comrades and village. What kind of Hokage would you be if your lack of control gets your comrades killed?"

He hangs his head in shame, mumbling, "A bad one."

"Chakra control is the foundation to every single jutsu. Master that first. The amount of chakra you have is massive, higher than any Jonin in the village, so control is going to be your biggest problem." Anko turns to the other two. "You two would most likely have the exact opposite problem, as in your reserves are small. We'll double your reserves by the end of this month."

She reaches into her jacket, pulls out a small notebook, and flips it open. She stares at the content fir a moment. "Do you know what flaw every clan born shinobi in the village posses?"

Shino raises his hand. "Over reliance on the family techniques and refusal broaden their arsenal."

"Got it in one." She chirps. "Over 55% of Konoha's shinobi population are from major clans, and only a handful of them even attempt to learn new techniques from outside their clan jutsus after they graduate from the academy. The minor clans don't have much of this problem. You both are from clans whose techniques are well known, even to those outside the village. That makes you predictable, and a predictable shinobi is a dead shinobi. Only an idiot would limit himself and thus make himself predictable, and I don't intend to train idiots. So you will be learning new techniques from me, or any teacher I assign for you. Are we clear?"

Both the boys nod.

"Now, you can choose what kind of techniques you want to learn, and I'll help in any way I can, or I'll find you teachers when I can't help directly. Think it over, and let me know."

All three of the boys look contemplative at the statement, including Naruto. She can see the gears turning behind Shikamaru's eyes, and she's certain the Nara is going to come up with something brilliant. Shino is, as always, difficult to read. Naruto is probably the most open among the three. I'll need to do something about it later, she thinks.

"Yo blondie." His head snaps towards her. "What do you know about Fuinjutsu?"

"Fyuin what now?"

Right. "Seals, brat."

He frowns, lost in thought. "Like the one the fou- I mean dad used to put the fox in me?"

Anko nods, matching his frown. "Wait, how did you unwind the security seals in the archive?"

Naruto scratches his head in confusion. "Those were seals?"

Anko barely pushes back an urge to facepalm. This kid is either an undiscovered genius or a complete idiot. Although considering who his mother was... She fishes out another book from her jacket and tosses it to the blonde. "Read that, and tell me what you think." She claps her hands. "Moving on. Taijutsu. Academy style is a good foundation to build on, but is completely useless in a real fight. Blondie here was screwed over by his teachers in that department, so I'll have to think about how to deal with that."

"I'll look in our library first. There should be a style that suits me." Shino says, interrupting Anko.

"Right." She nods. "Now, let's get started. Blondie, Kakashi let me know an interesting bit about your shadow clones. How many can you make?"

Naruto grins sheepishly. "I'm not sure. Can I give it a shot?"

Anko simply shrugs. "Go ahead."

"Yosh." He jumps to his feet, excited. He makes a hand seal and shouts, "multi-shadowclone jutsu!"

Anko was a genin during the last war, but she'd been on a lot of missions related to the war, both in and out of the land of fire. Being Orochimaru's student (before his betrayal) meant that a lot of Chunins and Jonins wanted to see what the Sannin's student could do on the field, and as such she'd had a lot of opportunities to work with a lot of shinobis from the village. She's seen some amazing things that few others can boast about. She's seen Jiraiya's sage mode in action, Tsunade creating miracles with medical ninjutsu, Orochimaru defying every known laws of nature, Hiruzen Sarutobi's ninjutsu genius, Kushina's adamantine chains in their full glory, Minato's Hiraishin in action, and his knowledge about battle seals. She's probably the only one in the Village that remembers Kushina's knowledge on seals far outshone Minato's, having seen both their prowess. Naturally, her standard for shocking turn of events, is ridiculously high. But none of those experiences has prepared her for what happens next.

Orange. For the first few seconds, that's all she sees. That's until the smoke that covered the grounds disappears.

Shadow clones. Nearly two thousand shadow clones. Walking, talking, solid clones.

She's gaping openly, and for once, she doesn't care. Because it is the single most amazing thing she's seen, and it's from one of her students. From a genin.

A fucking genin.

When she referred Naruto as a potential Ninjutsu powerhouse, she based her conclusion on two facts - one, Naruto is an Uzumaki, a clan known from producing shinobi with chakra reserves ranging from anywhere between four to ten times that of an average shinobi. A clan whose chakra is incredibly potent, meaning techniques don't drain reserves at the same rate as a normal shinobi does. Two, he's a Jinchuriki that holds the strongest of the tailed beasts, held by a seal that, if the Hokage is to be believed, allows the beast's chakra to continuously mix with his own. Which means, Naruto's reserves will steadily increase over time, until his death, or until the seal is broken.

Anko starts cackling like a crazy villain, and Shino and Shikamaru slowly edge away from her in fear. She doesn't care. It feels like an early birthday, and someone gifted her a mountain of Dango.

I really should gift the old man a nice bottle of sake, or maybe a roll of some special tobacco.

33 Days since graduation.

ANBU HQ. 1000 hours

172 of the two hundered ANBU Black ops agents stand in attention, looking like chastised school children before an irate commander, an amused looking Anko Mitarashi, Ibiki Morino, Shikaku Nara, and a disappointed Hokage.

"ANBU Black ops agents, elite of the elite. Well? Give yourselves a round of applause. It's not everyday the elite soldiers of a hidden village gets outsmarted by a group of green Genin." The commander barks, disappointment clear in his voice. "All you buffoons are going through the Twister again. If any one of you slips up again, you're gonna rue the day you decided to be a ninja. Dismissed."

The agents hurry out of the common room, running for their lives. The commander turns around to face the Hokage and bows low. "Forgive me Hoakage-sama, the troops have gotten lax in their training and their situational awareness. I assure you, it will be corrected soon."

The old Kage chuckles and waves away the apology. "It's alright. Naruto-kun has shown the ability to catch even the best in the village off guard, including me."

"What's more concerning is the holes in the security this training exercise has exposed." Ibiki says with a grunt, as the commander leaves the room. When Anko came to him about conducting these training exercises as a security check, He'd suspected it would blow up to be a big headache, and this just proves he was right. even though the kind of headache he was expecting was from when the plan failed spectacularly, as he had predicted. neither did he, nor anyone in the higher ups expected three fresh out of the academy Genin to successfully break into the ANBU headquarters and walk out undetected in broad daylight. The entire incident was a huge black mark against the pride of Konoha's elite operatives. Adding insult to the injury was the fact that two out of the three Genins were considered the worst in their class. Granted, one was Naruto Uzumaki, the prankster king of Konoha, but still a Genin.

"Maybe an overhaul of the entirety of our security protocols are in need." Shikaku suggests. "It's a good thing you decided to call in Jiraiya-sama."

Hiruzen takes a long puff from his pipe. "Hmm. That's probably a good idea." He looks at Anko, and gestures her to come closer. "How are they progressing with their training?"

"Reasonably well. Both Shikamaru and Shino managed to double their chakra reserves in the last month. Naruto's chakra control has improved leaps and bounds, although he still can't produce a single normal clone, and I think he never will. As a team, their cohesion has been high since the start, and it has only improved. They've already mastered the techniques with which they graduated, and are able to perform them seal-less, smoke-less, and completely silent."

Hiruzen raises an eyebrow. "Even Naruto?"

Anko nods, standing straighter in pride. "Shino has taken up kenjutsu, under Hayate and Yugao, depending on their free time. He's also progressing well with the advanced taijutsu katas from his clan library. Shikamaru..." She trails off, looking at Shikaku. "Well, let's say even the Nara laziness has been defeated by the infectious bundle of energy that is Naruto Uzumaki."

Shikaku barks out in laughter at that. Hiruzen turns an inquisitive eye towards the Jonin commander.

"He's been complaining about troublesome blondes messing up with his carefully laid out career plans. At first, I thought he was talking about Ino, then I saw him and the Aburame kid with Naruto, huddled together in our study. Yoshino's happy with Shikamaru and that makes things less troublesome for me at home." Shikaku explains with a shrug.

"He's been studying up jutsu theory and advanced chakra maanipulation. He's been cooking up something that would blow your mind, just you wait." Anko says gleefully. She knows exactly what the Nara genius is upto, and it equally excites and terrifies her. She's seen the notes he'd compiled on his project, and from what Kurenei has told her about their discussions, if the kid manages to pull it off, he'll be a terrifying opponent to face on the battlefield.

"And Naruto?"

Anko takes a long breath. "The academy did a number on the poor kid. Everything, from taijutsu to chakra theory was messed up badly. On the Taijutsu front, Kakashi introduced him to Guy, and they've been working on something in the evenings. He says he isn't ready to use the style in actual combat yet, but Guy tells me Naruto's progressing quicker than he'd been expecting. The kid's a tactile learner, and an impressive one at that. Try explaining the theory behind something, he falls asleep in the blink of an eye, but show him how to do something, and he grasps the concepts with frightening speed. His greates asset is his improvisational capability. Put him in any kind of scenario,and he finds a way to turn things to his advantage without fail. The only time I've seen him sitting still is when he's studying fuinjutsu. Even then, he threw away the textbooks I got him after the first hour and started practicing on his own."

Hiruzen tilts his head, interest piqued at the last tidbit. "Oh? and how are things progressing on that front?"

Anko responds with a shrug. "When I tried to talk to him about it, he was going on and on about things I have no clue about. I'm fairly decent in the art, but Kakashi is leagues better than me. Even he was stumped after the first fifteen minutes of the conversation. We really need Jiraiya here soon or I'm afraid he'll blow himself up. Neither I nor Kakashi can keep up with the brat."

Hiruzen drops into the nearby chair. "Which means I'll have to talk to him before Jiraiya gets back."

Anko does a double take at that. "He still hasn't talked to you?"

"No. He's been avoiding me rather skillfully. I tried sending an ANBU to get him, and he came back with the reply 'I'll talk to the old man when I'm sure I won't stick a kunai in him the moment I see him.' I'm afraid I'll escalate things if I try to pull rank on him."

"Yeah, bad idea." Anko quickly agreees.

Shikaku and ibiki exchange a look, confused at what's going on. The Hokage and Naruto shared a familial relationship with each other as far as they both knew, which made the comment even more confusing, as neither had any idea what caused the apparent rift between them. It was rather amusing to see the God of shinobi worrying about the reaction of a Genin.

"So, he found out about his heritage then?" Shikaku asks after a moment.

Anko gives him an amused nod.

"Huh, I would've expected the kid to blow up at you, Hokage-sama. This spell of silence seems entirely out of character for the kid."

Hiruzen sighs. "No, Naruto sees this as the ultimate betrayal of his trust. Shutting me off from him, is his way of protest - one he knows will hurt me just as much as my lie has hurt him."

"Meh, don't worry about it. I say let Jiraiya take the hit. The old toad certainly deserves it more than you. Naruto will come around soon after."

Ibiki sends a questioning look over to Shikaku, who mouths back 'later.'

"Anyway, " Ibiki cuts in, clearing his throat. "we need to decide what to with the security flaws."

Hiruzen snaps into his Hokage mode in the blink of an eye. "Anko. I want the team to hit every single strategic point within the village, and detailed reports on every single flaws they could spot. I'm giving you complete freedom on the whole thing. Coordinate with Ibiki. Each of these excercises will be labled as an A rank mission, and the payments will be made to the team. And once they're done with that, Shikaku here will lead them through a comprehensive security check on every single one of our shinobi and our administrative staff. You, with a select ANBU personel will tag and eliminate every last spy identified. Keep the entire operation underwraps, known to just us four."

Anko raises her hand. "What about my team? How much do I tell them?"

Hiruzen meets her eye with a stern gaze. "Need to know."

1130 Hours.

Naruto's apartment.

Shikamaru closes the file he's been reading with a satisfied smile. "Well, that's as detailed as we can go without mentioning our detour into the records room." He hands over the report to Shino. "You know, when Sensei first brought up breaking into ANBU HQ as a training exercise, I thought she was pulling a prank."

Shino hums in reply. "What's even more surprising is the fact that the mission was way too easy. I know Naruto told us it would be, but I must admit I was skeptical."

Naruto snickers. "Told you. Considering how many times I've redecorated that place in the past, the security was still way too lax."

"Agreed. While it proves advantageous for us, I must admit I am fearful about the safety of the village if this is the kind of security in the village's most secretive building."

Shikamaru leans back in his chair."Troublesome. Dad's going to be stuck in council meetings all week, which means there's no one to run interference with my mother." He looks at Naruto. "Mind if I crash with you for a couple of nights?"

Naruto shrugs. "Sure."

Shino looks up from the paper. "We'll need a better space, with more security."

"I found an abandoned lab out in the woods, there's a living quarters connected to it, underground. I think it's one of Orochimaru's early hideouts. It's relatively neat, and well hidden. We could repurpose the whole space in one or two days. I can modify a few blood seals, and amp up the security as well."

Shikamaru considers the idea. "Might be a good idea. we'll take a look after lunch, if nothing comes up."

"You know, this is going to force us to accelerate our plans." Shino points out. "The moment this report hits the Hokage's desk, they're going to clean house, which means we will need to make our move soon."

Shikamaru stares at Shino and blinks. "Shit. I didn't think of that."

Naruto simply shrugs uncharacteristically. "Actually, That won't be a problem. Just a second." He gets up and shoots off towards his bed. He pulls out a box from under it, and takes out a large folder. Coming back to his seat, he sets the folder on the table and pulls out two sheets of paper and lays it on the table for the others to see. On the papers are a set of seals that looks like the mirror images of each other.

Shikamaru looks at Naruto questioningly, who is grinning at the pair. "It's a modified version of a xerox seal. Any document we find, can be duplicated without risk. We can move tonight, if we want."

Shino and Shikamaru trades a look with each other, before the pair turns to Naruto with a firm nod. "Midnight."

Naruto cheerfully nods back. "Midnight."

Unknown to any of them, Kurama stirs in his seal, grinning in anticipation.

AN- Well, I must admit, this was not the way I expected this chapter to turn up. For those who wanted to see the training exercises as they played out, apologies. I really didn't want to write log chapters detailing training methods. There are a huge number of fics that have done just that, and I didn't want to repeat the mundane shit. Besides, the real infiltration missions are just starting.

I had written a long section with just Naruto and Kakashi bonding over stories from the past. While not exactly integral to the story, it's something I enjoyed writing very much. If you guys are interested in reading it do let me know, and I'll try to include it in one of the future chapters as a flashback. It's about 2-3k words of pure bromance.

Oh, and before I forget - To the dear anonymous reviewer who's been leaving new and better methods to torture Naruto mentally, I love you my man. I'm probably not going to use most of those ideas, and there are certain things I'd already planned. You'll know when you see them. I'm guessing it's just one single person. if it's not, I love you all just the same, and the answer remains unchanged. I do love enthusiastic participants like these.

The other important point- I don't plan on having Naruto romance anyone. That's right, no pairings for the MC. {Insert evil villain laugh}There is a specific ending that I have in mind for this story, which will kinda become apparent by the time we meet Tsunade. Romance would unfortunately, leave my story incomplete. That's not to say There won't be any romance at all in the story. We have our super sexy, irresistible, adorable Sensei Anko to consider.

Next time, some buried secrets are discovered, Naruto finds himself as a Sensei to a couple of impressionable academic students, and an explosive confrontation between Naruto and Iruka, and later with a few idiotic villagers. And then, we'll have some action.