Two months had passed since that dreaded mission. The missions after had all been D rank. Every single one was a boring, repetitive, demeaning task that someone else was too lazy to do. It must have been the greatest time in their lives.

They kept up their training though. They didn't train together, except on private time, which basically consisted of Saotome walking back into Junichi's neck of the woods for sparring or learning new jutsus. Junichi was still plugging away like always, trying extra hard to learn how to use Zabuza's mammoth blade. Ayane hadn't been seen training since they came back. She still seemed the same as always, but the boys were smart enough to know that she was training hard with seals. Saotome was even taking it up a notch by training with a guy named Rock Lee he had somehow gotten in touch with and was improving his taijutsu dramatically. It was even rumored that he had a black bowl cut wig that he wore while training with his new acquaintance, though his teammates knew not why. They had never met Rock lee or his creepy instructor. In fact, they had never met any other team for that matter, and were beginning to wonder why.

"Hey Kanoe-sensei" Saotome said one day as he took a break from pulling weeds out of some fat lady's garden "Why is it that we have had no contact with other teams. We've not only not fought them, we haven't met any of them. I don't know if I'm being illogical or anything, but that's weird man."

"Well…I suppose I could get you to work with team number…" Kanoe said, trailing off as she thought of a genin team that would be good training for her pupils "Team…Seven, I think would be acceptable."

"Who's the jounin instructor? Is he tough or something, because we kick ass and you know it." Saotome said with a grin as he crossed his arms over his chest smugly.

"The instructor is Hatake Kakashi." Kanoe said shortly "Him and I go back. I think I could swing it for you if you think you're up to it."

"Hey moron!" Junichi said angrily at his teammate as he swung a large piece of wood at his head, causing Saotome to fall over in pain "Get back to work and quit slackin off to make the rest of us do it!"

"Saotome and I were just discussing our team training with Hatake Kakashi's team. It was his idea really, and I think I'm going to talk with him. I guess you can meet me in the training area to wait for his team."

Junichi picked Saotome up and dusted him off politely and went back to work quietly, letting him spend the rest of the mission slacking off.

The next day everybody showed up on time, except for Kanoe for some odd reason. Junichi was calmly meditating under a tree while Saotome was tuning his guitar in anticipation.

"Hey Saotome kun, what exactly have you been doing while training at that Rock Lee guy's place? I've never heard of him." Ayane asked inquisitively, even though her training was more mysterious than theirs.

"Well, It's mainly taijutsu stuff." Saotome replied lazily as he scratched the back of his head "He's got me wearing all sorts of training weights and stuff. It's really annoying but I know its good for me, especially since I'm going to excel in taijutsu."

"I see…" Ayane said thoughtfully "Have you learned any new jutsus from Junichi kun? I know you've been training with him too."

"It's mainly control work." Saotome said with a shrug, trying to be cool and play it off "I've been trying to work with my demon too. He's a stubborn bastard though, and wants some kind of test before I can fully bring out his power."

It was at that moment the members of team seven showed up. At first there was complete silence as their two teams met for the first time. Then there was a little bit more silence as they stared each other down, with the exception of Junichi who was still meditating.

"So you guys are that other team." The female of the group said, trying to break the silence "I'm Haruno Sakura, these are my teammates Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."

"That's right! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! One day I will be the future hokage of Kohona village!" Naruto yelled as he gave a "nice guy pose" as Saotome recognized it.

"Whoah little dude. Slow down. If you keep being loud like that some enemy village'll get you before you hit thirteen." Saotome said. Naruto fumed at this remark but Sakura managed to beat him into obedience "Anyways, I'm Nagama Saotome. I'm a sexy beast. That's Ogoru Ayane, she's overly nice. And the creepy guy behind us is …uh…Junichi. We don't know his surname."

"Is your instructor always late, or is this something out of the ordinary for you" Sakura asked politely.

"I dunno, I don't pay attention or nothing." Saotome said, as he looked them all over again, trying to decide whether he could take any of them or not.

"I would like to say we've heard good things about you, but we haven't… But I'm sure we will one day in the future!" Ayane piped in enthusiastically as Saotome rubbed a hand over his face.

It was at this moment that Kanoe walked up with a large box over her shoulder. She had a creepy smile on her face and was jostling the box all around.

"Hey, why are you late? What the hell is that box?" Saotome asked suspiciously as he eyed the box.

"Well, I had to take care of an errand and then…" Kanoe said as she threw the box down and opened the lid, revealing a tied up silver haired jounin "I had to walk here. I was sure you wouldn't mind."

"Wow, Kakashi-sensei, you let a woman put you in a box and carry you around!" Naruto gasped, seeing his instructor in a tight position

"Well Naruto, I think I should tell you that most women don't think logically, and tend to be slightly insane. The woman who put me in this box is a perfect example of such behavior." The jounin replied before Kanoe shut the box again and sat on the lid.

"Well, for now its just an all out team battle. Team seven against team…whatever number we are." Kanoe said boredly "Just don't kill each other or anything. I don't want that kind of paperwork."

It was at this point that Junichi stood up and looked at the team in front of him with a grin. He pulled Zabuza's sword out from behind the tree. He had left it there so he could surprise the new team and intimidate them, but they had a different reaction than he expected.

"Where the hell did you get that sword! It looks way too much like…" Naruto yelled, trailing off at the end as he realized the answer when he looked into Junichi's eyes.

"I earned it in the heat of battle against a fierce opponent." Junichi said with a devilish grin. He was trying hard to freak them out and put them on edge.

Without warning, he swung the sword at the opposing team as his own team disappeared into the woods to prepare for the sneak attack. All of the members of team seven ducked, under the blow with barely a hair's width of space between them and the sword.

Sasuke and Sakura jumped back behind Naruto to back him up in case he fell. Naruto lunged forward with all his might, several kunai sandwiched between his knuckles. Junichi met the attack with a sword slash right across Naruto's chest. Naruto rolled to the side and made the punch to Junichi's gut. At the last minute though, Junichi took a hand off his sword and held it at Naruto's chest and let forth a chakra burst that sent Naruto flying several feet back towards his teammates.

"What the hell did you do!" Sakura yelled as she inspected Naruto's chest to find no evidence of a wound except the wind knocked out of him.

"It's similar to the Hyuuga's Jyuken, except it doesn't affect the tenketsu, but the actual physical body with devastating effect." Junichi said as he rammed his sword into the dirt behind him. He then held out his hand and gave the infamous Morpheus "bring it on stance" as he said, "It will take more than one of you to take me down."

This time Sasuke rushed in, followed closely by Sakura and then a slightly wary Naruto. Junichi drew his fuuma shuriken and spun them in his hands as they approached. Sasuke threw a few projectiles at him to throw him off balance before he went in with the killing blow. Junichi blocked the shuriken with his spinning fuuma shuriken and then kicked Sasuke in the stomach as he ran forward. Sasuke ducked under the blow and kicked Junichi in the back, landing the hit between his shoulder blades…until his foot went straight through the body and it turned into a large rock, weighing Sasuke's leg down greatly.

"What sort of jutsu is this? How the hell did my leg go through him?" Sasuke asked incredulously as he tried to loosen the boulder's grip on his leg.

"Its only my binding kawamari Uchiha!" Junichi said as he somehow managed to land behind Sasuke from somewhere and then hit the boy with a roundhouse kick to the head.

"You bastard! Nobody beats us so easily! I'm going to take you down!" Naruto yelled as about fifteen clones appeared around him.

"I wouldn't think so hastily my friend. I too know kage bunshin." Junichi said with a grin as fifteen assorted evil looking warriors of unknown origin or history surrounded him. "Its my kage bunshin of course…Its basically the same, except it creates a copy of someone else."

The two forces collided in an all out battle royale, ending with both boys standing there as their clones finished each other off. For a time, they stared into each other's eyes before Junichi grinned and began to laugh.

"What's so goddamed funny? We're about to get serious on you!" Naruto yelled at his eccentric opponent.

"It's only the fact that all of you could beat me if you tried…especially the Uzumaki. He could beat me very easily. But none of you apply yourselves correctly. For this matter, I must retire and let my teammates take care of you until you can come up with a better strategy." Junichi said as he held his hands in the tiger seal and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"He's strong" Sasuke said quietly as he stared at the rock attached to his leg before finally smashing it against a tree "He makes those jutsus himself. Any normal jutsu wont be able to get him. I'm sure he has a better copy for each one."

"What I want to know is why he said that Naruto kun could beat him easily?" Sakura asked as she eyed Naruto suspiciously.

Naruto was about to make up an answer when they heard a guitar playing behind them. They all wheeled around to see Saotome sitting on a rock, enjoying the sun and playing away on that guitar of his with many years of skill pouring through his fingertips.

"What the hell are you doing over there? You're supposed to be fighting us you loser!" Naruto yelled at him angrily.

"Man, somebody is soooo going to kill you." Saotome said with a sigh as he rubbed a hand over his face "I'm surprised they haven't gotten you already with your loud mouth going off all the time."

Naruto ran at Saotome with killing intent in his eyes. He jumped into the air and dived downward at the smiling boy as he stood there calmly, ready to take the blow for some strange reason. Meanwhile, their instructors watched them carefully.

"Your genin have great teamwork." Kakashi commented, obviously impressed "They're taking turns fighting so they can relay information to each other and rest. Not only that, but that Junichi boy is quite amazing for his age."

"Junichi has the power, but he's about as sharp as a bowling ball. Saotome was number one in his class, but he's a lazy, spaced-out, idiot. Ayane…Ayane is almost completely useless. Junichi taught her one jutsu he made up, but other than that, she can't do anything. No taijutsu, no genjutsu, no ninjutsu, she can't set up traps, she can't think ahead, she can barely use her blood limit, and she's annoyingly upbeat." Kanoe said with a sigh as she looked over at the silver haired jounin as they sat on the same tree branch. She was amazed he wasn't reading his perverted book for once, but watching the battle intensely.

"Such a mismatched team" Kakashi said as he shook his head in near disbelief that such people would be put together "Sakura is trying to find her niche, while Sasuke is trying to maintain his position over Naruto while Naruto… well we all know about him don't we."

"You know…I wouldn't put my money on Naruto just yet." Kanoe said with a smile "Junichi's father. His name is Kagame Kiske. I'm sure you remember him from that one mission, correct?"

"Kiske is his father?" Kakashi said calmly "That guy was nearly as bad as Orochimaru when it came to experiments. The guy sacrificed his wife so he could confer with demons…wait, you're not trying to say that…"

"Yep." Kanoe said almost boredly "Kiske is alive and well, and Junichi has a demon that talks to him. It seems that others who come in contact with him gain the power of demons as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Saotome or Ayane started talking to demons sooner or later."
"That's slightly concerning" The silver haired jounin said with a smile "Of course having demonic powers would greatly aid the village. We would be almost unstoppable."

"But the question is, what price are you willing to pay for it? Accepting demonic power has to come at some sort of price. I'm worried about these children. I don't know if they'll be able to handle the trials and tribulations they have to go through to deal with these things." Kanoe said as she looked off into the distance.

Naruto flew through the tree with a loud crash as Saotome's fist went back to normal. Thinking back, Naruto saw the initial flaw that led to serious pain. As he had rushed in and attacked, Saotome turned out to be nothing but a bunshin and the real Satome was disguised as the rock the bunshin had been sitting on. Naruto was then caught up in a whirlwind of taijutsu, ending finally with something Saotome called "Burning Fist".

Sasuke stepped up to Saotome and stood there calmly. Saotome stared at him for a second and then laid his guitar down before he reached into his pocked and pulled out a black bowl cut wig and two large fake eyebrows and put them on in that order before standing readily.

"Oh my god! You look just like Lee san!" Sakura yelled as she got shivers thinking about Kohona's self proclaimed "Azure Beast"

"I think its time to test my true skills. Come and hit me if you can." Saotome said confidently as he watched the Uchiha activate his Sharingan.

Sasuke ran in at his opponent, knowing this would be strictly taijutsu and went to uppercut his adversary. Saotome was too quick for such things and ducked down to deliver a kick to Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke leapt over the attack and whirled around to punch Saotome in the face. Saotome blocked the attack with his arm and gave Sasuke a quick punch to the gut, then another, then three more before ending with an uppercut that sent Sasuke into the air.

Sasuke got up slowly and wiped the blood from his mouth. He should have known better to attack a taijutsu specialist that had apparently been training with Rock Lee head on. If he were to get anywhere, he would have to use ninjutsu.

Saotome quickly started to form several hand seals and shoved his fist into the air, where it suddenly caught on fire that burned blue, the color of human chakra. Then with a grin, he ran at the stunned Uchiha who was able to dodge the attack. Sasuke took the opportunity and punch the attacking boy in the stomach but with a poof, the body turned into a log. Then the real Saotome popped up behind him and gave him a hard punch to the back with his burning hand, sending waves of pain up his body. Saotome was still grinning until the Uchiha's body turned into a log and he felt kunai cut into his arms, rendering them useless.

"You made the mistake of giving me recovery time, and then assumed me to be as smart as Naruto." Sasuke said coldly from behind the paralyzed guitar player.

"I see. You are a worthy opponent Uchiha san." Saotome said without looking at him "Now go ahead and knock me out for the sake of your record."

Sasuke walked up and knocked the boy unconscious with a quick blow to the back of the head. Sakura was pulling a singed Naruto to his feet as Sasuke began to look around. Suddenly he found his feet to be rooted to the ground. He looked down and saw two odd looking pieces of paper covering his feet. Then, without warning, something covered his mouth and then his eyes and he couldn't move or speak at all.

Sakura was berating Naruto for falling for such an easy trap and getting pummeled by someone like Saotome and then bragging about how Sasuke beat him when she actually looked over at Sasuke and saw that he was frozen in place with pieces of paper covering his face, legs, and arms. She whirled around and saw Ayane standing in front of her with a sweet smile on her face.

"I'm really sorry I have to do this but I want to prove that I'm not useless to my teammates." Ayane said as she pulled out several more strange papers.

"What the hell did you do to Sasuke kun?" Sakura asked incredulously. She had never seen or heard of anybody using paper to fight before.

"They're paralysis seals." Ayane said beaming with pride "I made them myself. He'll be fine if you pull them off, or he's too strong for them and pulls them off himself. I have to ask that you don't tear them because they're really hard to make and I want to save them."

Sakura stood readily with Naruto still panting from his last encounter with one of this strange team's genin. In her mind, Sakura did her best to think up a plan. Without warning though, Ayane skipped, not ran, not walked, but skipped, toward them. Sakura took out several shuriken and threw them at her. Ayane smiled and held out her hand as the shuriken disappeared and then reappeared flying back at them.

Sakura's eyes widened as she ducked under her own projectiles. Then she saw one of the pieces of paper floating in front of her. Quickly she read the kanji for fire on it and was barely able to register what was going on when it suddenly exploded, sending her flying across the field. Sakura stood up and shakily looked around for her opponent. It suddenly occurred to look up and found Ayane standing on a branch with her hands completing the final part of a chain of hand seals with a smile. Around Sakura's feet seals started to gather and stick to her legs. More and more began to come and stuck themselves up her legs and went along until she was completely covered like a mummy and fell over with a thud.

Ayane looked down proudly at her work. It had taken her a long time to work that jutsu out and this was the first time she had gotten it completely right. She had worked very hard to get where she was right now. She jumped down but suddenly felt danger and whirled around to see Naruto give her a punch to the face that actually knocked her out flat.

Naruto went straight to Sakura and started trying to pull the seals off of her without tearing them, like Ayane had asked, when he heard someone clapping from behind him. Without even turning around, he knew who it was. The only remaining member of this team of freaks. It was the king of freaks.

"Now, the stage is set, and we can really fight." Junichi said with a maniacle grin, positively giddy that he could get a chance to fight Kyuubi.

"I don't know what you're talking about you crazed weirdo! You keep going on about something but I have no clue what you're talking about!" Naruto turned around and shouted at him, trying hard to play dumb.

"Your demon Uzumaki, I wish for a duel with the demon Kyuubi." Junichi said with a condescending tone. He was really laying this creepiness thing on thick. He was more like his father than even he knew "We both know of your REAL power. Just unleash it and I'll do the rest."

"It's not that simple…" Naruto said with his head lowered "I can't just unleash it whenever I please! He has to say it's okay."

"Then let me see" Junichi said simply as he made a couple of one handed seals and activated a mind reading jutsu he had pick up from stealing the Yamanaka clan's scrolls and, of course, making his own jutsu, which he activated by quickly touched Naruto's head before he could do anything.

Instantly both boys found themselves in what appeared to be a sewer. Naruto had somehow fallen into the filth and was lying at Junichi's feet but didn't seem to notice as he got up and looked around at his surroundings.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked quizzically, completely unaware of what loomed at the end of the tunnel.

"We are inside your mind, near the Kyuubi seal to be exact," Junichi said simply as if he were unimpressed and completely expected what was around him. "Come, we must go to the end of the tunnel. I'll have a talk with this Kyuubi, more for my own curiosity than your mental health mind you."

"What the hell are you talking about!" Naruto yelled rather loudly, completely dumbfounded STILL. For some reason it didn't click in his mind, pun intended, where exactly he was until he followed Junichi down the hall and saw the gargantuan cage bars in front of him. He didn't register the fear until he felt the hot breath of the demon blow past him and then saw the one murderous eye stare straight at him."

"KIT! WHY HAVE YOU LET YOUR ENEMY GET THE BEST OF YOU LIKE THIS!" The Kyuubi demanded with a ear splitting roar "YOU AREN'T DESERVING OF MY PRESENCE YET! COME BACK WHEN YOU BECOME STRONG!"

"Kyuubi!" Junichi yelled back at the snarling demon "He has every right to search his own mind! Forget not that he is the only reason you are able to live!"

"Hey man, lets not make him mad…" Naruto whimpered, trying to get over Junichi's audacity at speaking with one of the most powerful demons in known creation.

"WHO ARE YOU TO SPEAK WITH ME WITH SUCH IMPUDENCE? YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A HUMAN MORTAL!" They Kyuubi bellowed in rage.

"Demon, it was your hubris that sealed your fate and it is your hubris that torments you in this mind prison." Junichi said cockily as he crossed his arms over his chest "You gambled it all on one attack and lost and now you rage over it because you believed yourself to be unstoppable. Who are YOU to talk to ME about being human when you demonstrated a perfect example of one of mankind's most constant imperfections!"

There was silence from the cage for a time and Naruto stared wide-eyed at the boy in front of him who showed no fear of the demon, who openly disgraced him, who stood within ten feet of the giant bars and looked straight into the eye of a demon. Junichi was no normal boy, that was certain.

"Human, your words ring true." The Kyuubi quietly admitted almost shamefully "It takes one of strong will to stand before me and defile my good name. Would I be correct in guessing you to be of the clan Kagame?"

"It's not such a feat." Junichi said with a grin "You're behind the bars remember. And I am Junichi, son of a murderous father, disciple of forgotten arts, heir to the desolate name that is Kagame."

"I should have guessed as much. Your father was respected for his human skill in the demon world, though I have never seen that land" They Kyuubi said sadly as he thought of his true homeland "I sense demons within you as well. Tread with care, for your unessential is not sealed as I am, and can strike anyone without warning."

"Fortunately the demon that I am able to speak with is human-like in nature." Junichi said calmly "What do you mean by 'unessential' demon? Is there more that the great Kyuubi would be willing to teach me of demon nature?"

"Within most humans are their own demons that come not from another realm. This was how my own life began and the reason I never saw those demonic plains. Only every once in a while can a human awaken their inner demon and reach their true potential, but with the aid of another demon…it might just be possible for you." The Kyuubi stated mystically as if he had become a sort of divine prophet "Should you awaken that power, develop it to its fullest extent, for it is a truly rare thing for a human to invoke such power."

"Thank you for your words of wisdom great Kyuubi." Junichi said with a bow "I do hope that you and I can speak again one day. Until then I ask that you aid the Uzumaki boy and help him to become as great as he allows himself."

"I will do what I can for the kit, though I will not fight his battles for him." The Kyuubi replied with a condescending growl at a stupefied Naruto "He needs his own strength before he can attempt to harness mine. Now go, Kagame and Uzumaki, and battle out a bond of brotherhood."

Suddenly they were standing back on the training ground where they had disappeared from. Naruto was about to curl up into a little ball for the sake of his sanity when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"It just takes a special touch when dealing with demons. They require a different things than humans and should never be treated fully as one." Junichi said with a smirk as he looked down at Naruto.

"How…Where did you learn to do that? And why were you talking all weird with him? Why was my mind a gutter? How did he know what I was doing?" Naruto fired of the questions rapidly, barely taking time to breath.

"I've done some illegal things. You can't just talk to him regularly unless he deems it okay, it's just not what you do with demons. That part of your mind is a gutter because of the Kyuubi's anger, and it should clear up if you and him become better acquainted. And finally, he knows everything you do and is actually slightly interested in you, your friends, and how your story will play out." Junichi replied in order of the question.

"So…you have demons too." Naruto said as he kicked a clod of dirt absent-mindedly "What kind of demon do you have?"

Junichi grinned as an image of Eva faded into view behind him. It was only an image he had asked her to create for him, but it would do to get the point across.

"Her name is Eva. She is a vampire." Junichi said simply as the image faded away "Saotome actually has a demon too. It's a wolf of some sort but he won't give out his name and he won't lend his strength until Saotome does something or another…"

"Does Ayane have a demon too? What does it look like?" Naruto asked excitedly, literally bouncing up and down with joy.

"We don't know actually." Junichi said as he scratched the back of his head "She hasn't made any contact with the entity, so we're not sure she even has one. I do believe however that she has a special power deep down that might very well be more powerful than even she knows though…but I digress. We should get back to our duel and get this over with."

Junichi kneeled under his sword panting some minutes later. Across the field Naruto was in the same position. It truly had been a glorious fight just as Junichi wanted. People were like putty in his hands.

"The battle…has not…been decided yet…Uzumaki…" Junichi said between gasps for breath.

"Never…underestimate…the power of…my nindo…"Naruto said, almost perfectly mirroring Junichi's current state.

Both boys ran at each other at exactly the same time. Junichi swung his blade, expecting the upcoming counter. Naruto ducked under the blade and gave Junichi a good uppercut. Junichi took the hit stubbornly, knowing his opening would be right here. He suddenly let go of the blade and grabbed Naruto by the neck and put a palm to his chest, releasing a chakra burst that ripped through the skin on Naruto's back and sprayed blood on the trees.

"You didn't have to be so rough." Naruto complained as he passed out and fell to Junichi's feet.

Junichi suddenly looked at his right arm as a long slice suddenly appeared from shoulder to wrist and sprayed blood for a second before clotting some. Naruto's forward assault hadn't been totally wasted. Junichi let his one useless arm dangle by his side and a limped on a fractured leg over to the tree where both team's sensei's were sitting pleasantly and talking about something that had little to no relevance no doubt.

"Hey… we all kinda…need to go to the hospital now." Junichi breathed before passing out with both senseis' watching him with mild interest. Sometimes jounin annoyed the hell out of Junichi.