Land of Tea... Ouza Island… Nakayama Estates... Noonish…

Ki struck, her blade thin and straight, trying to hit the enormous bulk of the monk. Instead, the monk merely pushed the blade aside with his own blade. Parrying it with ease of untold years of experience. Ki tried to back up, her feet nearly tripping over themselves, to get out of range of his infamous counterstroke. Instead his meaty left fist shot out and grabbed a bulk of her greasy brown hair. Dragging Ki into his range, he whipped his own blade within a minute distance of Ki's jugular.

"Your first mistake was backing up." The fat monk relayed, as his fist let go a tangle of her hair. Only to allow her to collapse on the ground in a huff. "Your second, was not cutting your hair."

"Tell that to Midoridiot," Ki said under breath.

The monk stared at her for a second before flickering his vision beyond, before looking back at her. "Unlike you, the kunoichi can inundate her hair with various traps like contact poisons, barbed wire or chakra leeches. Few opponents want to lose their hand in such a trap."

"Inundate?" Ki huffed from the ground.

"Flood, swamp." The monk informed her.

"I like my hair, do I have to shave it?" Ki moaned. She didn't really love her hair. It could be a hassle with lice and smell in the gutter. However, it was the last reminder of her long braided hair that her mother used to perform on her years before this miserable existence.

"You don't have to shave anything. It's merely a recommendation." The monk said, examining her with a look and tone that spoke otherwise.

Ki rolled her eyes and sank onto the ground. Her limbs and body ached from newly developed and exerted muscles that she had developed over the weeks of intensive training. First from the insane, and practically blood thirsty training regimen that psycho put her through. More than once, the psycho nearly ended her with well aimed dagger strikes or just plain running her into the ground. And the second through the methodological blade training of the mad monk. Footwork, balance, coordination, observation, and actual bladework itself were reinforced everyday. If Ki was being truthful only a fraction of it ever stuck to the next day. It all made her more focused on not dying to this training, than looking for a way to escape this madhouse.

Weeks and weeks of training, and yet she still didn't see an opening to escape. The boys, when they weren't trying to kill themselves and each other, were far more busy trying to impress her with chores or food than able to extract any real knowledge. Hoarding a food supply, getting traveling clothes, navigational instruments or even knowledge outside the compound walls had been abject failures. Her body being exhausted everyday from the brutal training regimen didn't help matters much either, she pondered drearly.

Before she could think on that more, the mad monk, true to his personification, dumped an ice cold bucket of water on her form. Ki gave a shrill scream, and she thrashed about on the ground. "I think that's enough rest for now? Or do you prefer another? I have plenty more where that came from." He said, gesturing to two other buckets, he had filled with more water during her rest.

Ki sucked in her breath, sopping wet and shivering from the unexpected arrival of a bucket of water. "Why did you do that?"

The mad monk merely scratched his beard and squatted down in front of her before speaking. "Several reasons. As smart as you are, you're more given to idyll day dreaming and ponderings when given the chance. A habit that'll get you killed. A little water now is better than kunai nicking your bowels."

Ki snorted. "You said several reasons, yet I only heard one."

"I was getting there, little one." The mad monk said, holding out an arm to balance himself. "Secondary to that, cold water is an excellent conduit to flush out the bad humors that build up after a long exercise. And you were overdue for a bath."

Ki glared at the enormous monk as he chuckled at her agitation. She folded her arms against her chest before turning away from him. "Why do I bother with this, it's not like I'm improving at all."

She heard his footsteps behind him, and his hand on her head. She swatted his hand away, turning around she only found the fat mad monk smiling at her. "True. Something we'll need to fix. I had thought you would be ideal with a Land of Snow fencing sword. It's long thin blade makes an excellent self-defense sword if you're quick and agile." The monk droned on.

"Something at the moment, you lack in sufficient quantities." The monk said, before sitting down in front of her. "You lack the height and upper body strength at this stage, for onoes, wakizashis, ninjatos, kantanas. Tantos or kunai are only good with stealth training or ninja training, something you lack. Naginata could be useful but are unwieldy in urban or indoor situations." The monk paused for a second. "Out of curiosity, what weapons did your people use?"

Ki gave a tired shrug, "Swords, though unlike your curved swords. They were flat and pointed with intricate guards. Besides that I often saw pikes, spears, shields and crysarms. "

The monk's forehead wrinkled for a second. "Crysarms?"

Ki looked away, inwardly cursing herself for giving away important secrets. "Err.. yeah, it's sort of like your crossbows or bows. Except they use air and crystal, I don't really know how it all works. Probably some sort of magic."

The monk's forehead wrinkled even further, his hairless brows shooting up to the skies. "You've mentioned this magic before, and the chronicles mention your people are capable of magic. Though, I wonder what's the difference between that and the chakra arts that shinobi and the rest of our world is currently experimenting with. If you wouldn't mind."

Ki, thought for a second, it's better than being battered useless around. Ki nodded. "Sure, let me demonstrate." She focused on her fist out raised as she used her inner mana to modulate the air around her fist into a prism. That caused a flash of bright light to illuminate her whole hand in a ray of rainbow..

Ki was satisfied to see the monk was gobsmacked by this as she dropped the illusion. "This is considered a party trick that my uncle taught, a mere illusion that takes advantage of the natural world by using one's inner mana. I'm not very familiar with chakra arts, but seeing what Midoridiot and the idiots can do with it, magic is merely the purified form of this chakra."

She held up her hand, as she saw the questions sprouting like hairs from the monk's bald head. "This chakra gives you super-strength, super-speed, insane reflexes but can also allow you to manipulate certain elements like Midoridiot's plants and Rin's pottery. Magic could be used to do the same, but it's considered banal to do so, better if one were to mess with gravity, energy or time."

The monk stared at her hands for a long time, "And you can do that too?"

Ki sighed, she wished she could. "Unfortunately no. I was merely an acolyte, well no, more of an applicant really, when I left home. Father didn't want me to go into the seminary like my uncle and mother. Too many bad memories, he said. Whatever that means."

The monk nodded gravely, "Then he was a wise man, if this 'seminary' is as bad as the hidden village academies, then you might have missed a crueler fate."

Ki scoffed. "Yes, living on the streets for years and now forcefully conscripted into this hidden village isn't bad enough."

The monk gave a genial smile. "If you think this is particularly bad, then you've never seen the brainwashed tykebombs that march out their academies believing in mythical claptrap like the 'Mists of Fate', 'Will of Fire', or 'Sands of Time'. Who go to their deaths with such a zeal, that often times they are heard pronouncing death chants and participating in suicide tactics. That will happily kill their families or communities in all for the sake of following the orders of those stronger them. Midori may believe you to be a tool, don't get me wrong. But Ochagakure and by extension Midori, don't believe in silencing and indoctrinating young minds in the service of evil deeds."

Ki's face sneered, "And yet they expect me to kill?"

Monk raised a hairless brow. "Kill? No, no. Disable and render impotent yes."

Impotent? Disable? What? Seeing the look on Ki's face the mad monk merely stared in the grassy ground before beginning. "I don't know if you've noticed but most chakra arts don't work around you. Either not functioning to begin with or dissipating soon after. Even chakra leeches don't work as fast. You're like a sponge to water or a theoretical blackhole gobbling up chakra, be that inner or nature, at a rate that would make you a terrifying opponent for any enemy with an ounce of shinobi or samurai training."

Ki laughed. It was a long hollow laughter that echoed in the empty courtyard. The one anomaly that she had pondered over weeks as to why she had been conscripted had haunted her nightmares. It was a funny feeling as the laughter bled away, and she found herself unable to resist a torrent of tears that ran down her face in sheets.

Ki felt the monk's hand on her shoulders, before shrugging it off. She wiped away her tears. It always went back to that. Didn't matter whether she was all the way on the other side of the hemisphere or sequestered in a very specific quarter of her home city. It always, always went back to her soul siphon. And she didn't have a clue how she would respond to this new revelation.

Land of Fire… Konohagakure... Hashirama Principle Military Academy... Morning…

Sakura's back was ramrod straight as she stood in attention with the other newly graduated genin recruits. Their black and green uniforms mixed with their greater clan classmates in their clan battle dress, contrasted greatly with the various ad-hoc and personalized uniforms of their hopefully soon to be jonin instructors. A contrast further deepened by the vast age, height and experience gaps between them. Looking at the jonin assembled, Sakura could only suppress a nervous glee as her thoughts turned inward as the guest speaker spoke of the platitudes of paramount will of fire that was invested in the newest generation.

For today, she was going to be placed within her first genin squad. Something that had been immortalized in both literature and myth as almost a second family. A thought that both brought hope and dread in equal measures.

While in theory, she was a shinobi family heiress betrothed to a greater clan heir would entitle her access to either ANBU or hokage favored instructors. A conversation with her grandfather ended any such notions earlier in the day. Considering Sakura's poor combat skills shown in the final practicum, a conscious choice by her, made any chance of higher placement unlikely. Which suited Sakura just fine, if that conversation wasn't a double bluff to throw her off her game. You never could tell with that old badger.

Regardless, it was unlikely she and her "betrothed" would be grouped up into the same squad. A victory that she savored. Mostly because it was tradition and practicality that in case of a total squad wipe, which happens from time to time, any children that a couple had would end up as orphans. A fate that would leave them to their whims at best of their relatives or worse on the street.

The second and lesser reason is that intersquad fraternization and romance was looked down upon if not restricted, though it did occur somewhat regularly among civilian ninja. If only because they were not beholden to demands of family or clan. With the principle reasoning being it disrupted combat effectiveness and brought additional emotional calculus into play. Something out in the field could mean the difference between life and death. Or she had been told.

For Sakura, it mattered little. For her eyes were set toward the science division, one way or another. And with her academic scores number one in the class, beating even her betrothed and Shikamaru, she doubted they would waste that potential on field or escort assignments. Most likely, she would be relegated to a genin squad filled with other non-combat B or C ranked Genin. Completing D rank courier or non-important surveillance work. With the eventual timeline after chunin review to progress to either intelligence or science division apprenticeship. Or that was the hope at least.

Her dread on other hand told her otherwise. It was at the pit of her stomach, a nervous fluttering that didn't go away or have discernable reason to exist. Though, Sakura had to admit there was a reason. Given the course her life had gone so far, she very much doubted that her future plans would be realized. And then there was the conversation she had this morning with Nakimaze Naruto's twin sister Nakimaze Riou that threw a bucket of proverbial terror into her spine.

Nakimaze Riou wasn't someone Sakura really knew. She was nearly identical to her twin, blonde hair, blue eyes, fox whiskers, and same dumb smile. Only difference was their personalities, which considering how duplicitous Naruto was at most times, told her exactly nothing about her. Didn't help matters that she and Riou never had classes together and didn't share any friends. Friends, you call Ino-pig and her group of minions friends? Maybe you're as delusional as your betrothed. Her inner self broke into her reminiscing.

Sakura rolled her eyes but didn't vocalize her complaint. Her inner-self was just as bored as she was after all, commentary was expected. Still, the way she implied through her all too friendly and flirtatious attitude, that they would see a lot more each other was ridiculous. Officially, Riou and Naruto were the last in the class. Having had to repeat each year since being admitted when they were four.Officially, they were so dumb that they only reason they were becoming genin was because they effectively aged out of the academy through sheer determination. Officially, they were in the care of two kindly old foster parents at the edge of the village. Officially, that was bullcrap.

Of course, Sakura had volunteered to tutor Naruto in basic mathematics that no matter how good of a tutor she could have been, he couldn't have picked up addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and exponents in just a 3 hour window then promptly forgot about it the next day. Then there was the time that Sakura had seen them train with and keep up with a Sannin. Not to mention, those kindly foster parents were Shimura Danzo and his wife. Who were respectively speaking the head of the Konogakure's ANBU and the former captain of the Fire Guardians. It would take someone deaf, blind and ignorant not to realize that they were being intentionally held back and made to obfuscate their real talents.

Damn right, their being held back and why is easy. Her inner self replied, as her opposite drew illusionary dicks and balls on the speaker's podium and face. They are the kids of the Yondaime Hokage, and Naruto is a jinchuuriki. I expect this is a giant false flag to mislead anyone to underestimating them enough so they don't risk early assassination from a Silent.

Sakura's answer to her inner self was a shrug. It had raised a good point, but something was missing. If they wanted to false flag or keep them hidden, why didn't they fake their deaths and change their appearance. Why this giant masquerade. It made no sense, at least as far as what she was taught as a kunoichi. Best secrets remain out of sight, and out of mind. Only in those that can keep them or in dead men. There was a piece missing here. She pondered this question for half an hour longer as the speaker droned on, and on about the triumph of the will of fire, before the team announcements came.

Sakura wasn't surprised to hear that Ino was paired up with Akimichi Choji and Nara Shikamaru, since Ino-Shika-Cho battle effectiveness has been proven so popular and resilient through four shinobi wars and three great power wars. She was quite surprised that the Sarutobi whelp, one of Sasuke's cousins and Riou were a team under Senju Dan. And that they already had a C class garrison mission.

Nepotism is great huh? Her inner self replied. Having the third hokage as your grandfather to sneak in a good word for your first assignment must feel good.

Sakura didn't rise to the bait, instead she listened to her displeasure that most of the great and petty clan members were being collected into teams under elite special jonin and sent off on C class garrison or surveillance missions. While the rest were being sent out with newly promoted jonin for D rank surveillance and courier missions.

Are you that surprised? The Clans don't rule by the dint of rank alone, only those politically connected achieve greatness. This is an institution afterall not a meritocracy. Her inner self whispered in her ear. When Sakura didn't react, her inner self scratched her head at the end of an illusionary kunai. Hello? Are you there?

Sakura quietly whispered in response, "I didn't think it was this rigged." Before her inner self could answer, she heard her name and the names of her teammates, and her heart stopped.

"Would Uchiha-Haruno Sakura, Nakimaze Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, operative Team 7JQ designation, report to room 217B for special jonin and mission assignment."

- Fifteen Minutes Later -

As far as Sakura was concerned this was the worst possible scenario that she could find herself in. And she even did a genjutsu release to make sure she wasn't under either, and even then she was still unconvinced that this wasn't a powerful genjutsu.

Nakimaze Naruto and her fucking betrothed. Though, she should've seen it coming. The deadlast and the first in the class are usually paired up, along with strong support ninja to complement them. And this is how your dreams come crashing down.

Sakura lifted her head off the desk to glare at her opposite, who was on Naruto's lap fawning over him incessantly. Naruto, who was sitting a couple seats down in the front, was unusually quiet. Her betrothed merely leaned against the wall with his eyes closed; silent as a tomb.

Sasuke was the first to break the silence, "So... any of you have any idea who our jonin instructors will be?"

Naruto was the first to respond, his face calm and his tone far more even than Sakura ever heard him before. "Yeah, have a pretty good clue. Oneesan told me earlier. "

Sasuke arched an eyebrow, as he scowled at Naruto. "Aren't you twins and how would she know?"

Naruto shrugged, "She was the first one out and she found out from the Hokage."

Sasuke grunted, "Second to deadlast talking with the Hokage? Sounds like more of her flirtatious bullcrap, dumbass."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, and leaned forward. "You take it back, bastard."

Sasuke sported a cruel smile, "Oh, I'm so afraid of the deadlast brat that got to be genin because daddy was a hokage. A dead one. So, shut up dumbass and maybe take a kunai for me out in the field."

For a moment Sakura thought about interfering but decided that considering Naruto's talents it was best she just watched what happened. Sakura was not disappointed.

In an instant, Naruto flung forward, his fist overreaching his bounds. That allowed Sasuke to easily sidestep the punch, grabbing hold of the extended arms with his right hand and sending a chop to the neck with his left. Only to momentarily be surprised when Naruto or more accurately Naruto's clone erupted into a cloud of smoke. Sakura saw what Sasuke missed, the Naruto's clones in the rafters.

Five clones dropped down on Sasuke like rain drops. The first attempted a spinning kick only to get accidentally stabbed by the second kunai wielding clone. The third and fourth clones did a better job, the former grappling the stunned Sasuke and the latter landing two solid hits. While the fifth clone started forming the seals for a mokuton technique, much to Sakura's alarm.

Sasuke, recovering from his momentary shock, broke from the grapple with a reverse headbutt, and kicked the opposite clone in the balls. Taking his Kunai, Sasuke stabbed backwards once, and then shoved his kunai into the clone's abdomen, causing both clones to explode. Sasuke backed up and dodged a giant tree limb that Naruto spawn that sent him sprawling across the lecture hall's front desk.

The real Naruto appeared behind Sasuke, trying to gut punch him in the process but Sasuke merely deflected the hit with his arm before landing a series punches to the more diminutive Naruto's head. Naruto backed up, switching places using his second clone he had in reserve. Sakura saw however at this distance, that Sasuke was already sporting his Sharingan.

Naruto's clone tried to feint high before going for a gut swipe. But Sasuke merely parried it and attempted his own riposte that was blocked in turn. Sasuke then spun in place, barely missing being impaled by a tree branch that rocketed by and slammed into the clone. With that Sasuke only barely noticed another clone drop from the ceiling covered in a half-dozen practice explosive notes.

The resulting explosion annihilated the front desk in wood chips and sent Sasuke flying into the bleachers. Sasuke was already up and moving, impaled on wooden splinters the size of chopsticks. His hands collapsed into a series of hand signs that Sakura recognized instantly. Sakura instantly began her own hand signs, when she saw Sasuke start breathing in flames as Naruto's clones advanced forward covered in explosive notes.

Barrier Release: Triangular Prism!

The room exploded in flames and wooden splinters as they pinged off her barrier. As Sakura counted her heart beats she heard the school klaxons kick on and the screams beyond her barrier. When the smoke cleared, Sakura could see through the shimmering barrier that a good portion of the room was on fire and that the rooms' windows were blown out. By where the blackboard used to sit, Naruto was impaled by the front chair and covered with pieces of concrete from the roof caving in. Behind her a Sasuke sized hole was evident through the lecture hall's wooden back wall.

Sakura rubbed her forehead. It was just her luck that in a fight between her betrothed and her crush, that they would end up killing each other. And that she would also be left without a team. What a pile of...

Something brushed past her hair that she turned around in an instant, her gobsmacked to find two masked men crouched behind her. One was heavily muscular and scarred with a reddish-orange porcelain mask covering his face except for his left eye that displayed a very prominent sharingan. The other had a white shock of spiky hair with most of his lower face covered by a black cloth mask and his upper face by a forehead protector, with a prominent sharingan in the right eye. They both waved at her.

Ahh fuck… when things couldn't get anything worse, you get saddled with the hole ninja and his homosexual partner, the copy ninja. This is going to suck. Her opposite said, speaking from a desk currently acting like a bonfire.

The white one smiled through his mask. "Sorry we were late, we got stuck rescuing the princess of the Land of Frost from a frostwyrm." There was a pregnant pause. "Obito, does the room seem a bit hot and messy?"

The scarred one shrugged, "That it does Kakashi, that it does."

That was the last Sakura heard before the world became a dark abyss as she felt consumed by the darkness emanating from Obito's orange mask.

Land of Tea... Ochagakure... Kashiwaya Inn... Afternoon

Tazuna was in Midori's eyes a man of contradictions. Easily reaching his sixties with greying hair and reading glasses, but still heavily muscled and fit. The little that she dug up about him had spoken of his skills. An engineer, a small business leader, a ship captain, and a diplomat for the Land of Wave. Yet he was living in an unrecognized backwater, with little kin or property and less funds with certainly no certificates to his skills. And now sitting before her, his clothes were mere peasant garbs, just a v-neck sleeveless shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of bamboo sandals. Yet how he sat and acted was in perfect accordance to that, some very much above his level. Not to mention that he was building a bridge with labor that shouldn't exist with funds that appeared magically in front of him and plans backed by a major fire nation architectural firm and supplies delivered by lightning nation supplier.

He was a mass of contradictions that spoke to her after a minute analyzing him. Oyabun. He's a Kami-damned Oyabun. Though even money says he's either leading his own gokudo family or he was 'retired' at some point. Midori thought, now wishing she could've gotten better workup from the guy before this meeting.

This made things in some ways so much simpler and so much more dangerous, Midori thought. Her eyes cast back to her uncle as they finished up the contractual work. In exchange for 3 month protection detail, with first options for early termination or late extension, Ochagakure would get in exchange for forgoing payment, a twelve percent of all revenue collected when the bridge was complete for the next 20 years. If by some dark miracle that she and the team took out the main objective and protected the secondary, maybe Ochagakure would receive an ounce of that money. Doubtful.

"And that shall finish up our business in totality, Tazuna-sama, if there is any other business?" Her uncle in a tone of religious seriousness.

"There is one additional piece of business that has reached me that I feel you should know." Tazuna eyed both with concealed intent. "A contact at the court of waves informed me that two konoha genin teams would be stationed in my village."

Midori eyed her uncle knowingly. She addressed Tazuna forthwith. "We are already aware. Our own intelligence from intercepting Konoha's Yamanaka clan's telepathic chakra network says as much. It's not a significant problem."

"It should be, my own contact provided me with a list of names. They are quite sobering." Tazuna intoned, with a weird mixture of regret and placid calm. Handing them over to Midori and Junpei to look over.

Directive 31PW-091

Distribution of Genin Squads to oversee local security and anti-banditry operations for the port village of Minamiawaji and surrounding environs as follows:

Team 7JQ:

ANBU Captain A+ Nohara Kakashi

Special Jonin A+ Uchiha Obito

Genin S+ Nakimaze Naruto

Genin S Uchiha Sasuke

Genin A+ Uchiha-Haruno Sakura

Team 10JQ:

Fire Jonin A+ Sarutobi Asuma

Genin B Yamanaka Ino

Genin B- Akimichi Choji

Genin C+ Nara Shikamaru

"Hmm… so they are deploying their jinchuuriki along with a support team to support its operations. Quite the escalation." Junpei-sama hummed quietly.

"And genin teams full of clan heirs and heiresses." Midori finished.

"Yes, complications. The fact they would deploy their precious jinchuuriki outside their borders is probably a signal by Konoha to other major powers that interference in this annexation will not be tolerated." Junpei-sama said between the puffs of his pipe.

Tazuna wrinkled his nose at the tobacco smoke. "Will that change the current agreement at all? I hate to see this all go to waste because Konoha starts deciding to impound my local labor pool or do something insane again."

Her uncle made a show of contemplating refusing Tazuna, "No, it shouldn't. I doubt Konoha has fully trained their jinchuuriki to comparable levels as their neighbors. They prefer to keep them sealed and used as living land torpedoes to stop armies in their tracks than as skilled opponents. Thus, the jinchuuriki is of little or no threat."

Midori eyed the list again. "The jonin could be a problem, when they aren't babysitting their clan brats or jinchuuriki." Casting a knowing eye to her uncle, who didn't meet her eye.

Her uncle instead tilted his head to the side in exaggerated contemplation. "Doubtful. They are probably there to prevent any damage to the port facilities and population as a whole. The bridge is of course another matter."

Tazuna eyed them both with a piercing gaze. "I'm more concerned with their anti-banditry operations. Considering the makeup of my laborers, I would say not an insignificant amount of them have engaged in banditry or piracy in the past. Hardly surprising considering the poor agricultural yields of the land of waves."

Midori resisted an urge to roll her eyes. The translation, obviously, was he's worried about the safety of him and his family from Konoha goons slicing him up. While it made sense for him to be worried, trying to gain assurances or appeasement from them now was a slap in the face as far as she was concerned.

Midori leveled a gaze, molding her chakra into a mild killing intent, and expressing it around her. "Considering that the land of waves has long been a haven of scoundrels, ronin and pirates; I wouldn't be surprised if most inhabitants there were guilty of some illegal activity. And Konohagakure will be no different. They will be there to ensure the process goes as planned. And if a few of your people get strung up, better that than Konoha slicing your throat and appropriating your assets for themselves."

Tazuna was made of sterner stuff, even as Midori felt the hand of her uncle on her shoulder, he neither blinked nor had a change of expression. Her uncle interjected, "Of course, Midori and her team will ensure that Konohagakure's garrison does not harm or disrupt the vital work on your bridge of course. Even with their youth and small size they have…"

Tazuna held up a hand. "I have no doubt they will be the best you have on offer. I merely bring this up as a fair statement of honest warning and an offer of additional support of a few disreputable individuals that I have contacts with."

Nukenins. Unless you betray your village for another village, nukenins or missing ninja were mercurial, mercenary wandering shinobi with a penchant for betrayed contracts and hidden agendas. Being burned more than once working with more than a few missing nin. Uchiha Itachi ranked up there. Midori was in no mood for interference by whatever nebulous contacts that this 'Tazuna' had in his back pocket.

"To be perfectly honest…" Midori began.

"Not like you haven't." Tazuna interjected.

Midori huffed. "Whatever 'disreputable individuals' you have contacts to, be they nukenins or ronin, would attract Konohagakure attention far more than a team from Ochagakure. Especially if they have their names in bingo books."

"So, you would suggest this is a general bad idea?" Tazuna continued.

Midori laid out her point. "Ochagakure has a reputation as being glorified entertainers and policeman. All the better. Let Konohagakure laugh themselves silly at the thought of the bridge and work being done as protected by stage performers. My team will ensure whatever threat may come, is dealt with in hand with little notice from your new overlords."

Tazuna gave a barely imperceptible nod. "Who exactly is part of your team? More entertainers? Should I even ask?"

Midori smiled. "The deadliest team that Ochagakure can provide." Midori lied.

Land of Fire… Konohagakure... Exercise Area 33... Morning…

"So, what did our little, cute, injured genins learn about yesterday morning?" Kakashi asked rhetorically to his newly assembled students. After yesterday's events had transpired in an incredible amount of property damage, they destroyed 4 lecture halls and knocked out 5 load bearing columns that caused a part of the roof to collapse, he and Obito decided that a more controlled introduction was in order.

Uchiha Sasuke sat on a stump. Staring up at them with dead eyes. Bruised in half a dozen places and covered bandages where they pulled wooden slivers the size of kunais out of him. He looked more likely to try to stuff a shiv in him the second Kakashi dropped his guard.

He was the most straight forward of their new students. Witnessing your older brother brutally torture and murder your father in front of yours eyes while the clan around them descended in familicide had done him no favors. Not to mention, witnessing the aftermath of Itachi going insane and attempting to kill him, further aggravated the situation. Even at the tender age of twelve Sasuke had all the symptoms of war neurosis. Quick to anger. Extreme apathy of nuance. A childlike view of revenge and vengeance. Extreme paranoia and insomnia. A dual belief in his utter superiority and complete failure as a ninja. It was in Kakashi's and Obito's opinion that they probably couldn't fix him. What they could do was train him the best they could and train him at the target.

Namikaze Naruto on the other hand, stood close by leaning against a pole, wearing black and orange Namikaze battle dress, sporting none of the wounds he had yesterday. A feature of his bijuu's demonic chakra that more than likely will cause more than a few issues in the coming days.

As far as considering him as a student, he was a complex and nuanced case. For the normal listed and unlisted reasons. The death of his father, their sensei, at the tender age of five battling a resurrected Uchiha Madara did no wonders for the boy. Add on to that being Konoha's jinchuuriki that unfortunately leaked soon after Naruto's mother died, and their sensei pitiful attempts at covering that fact up, had left Naruto and Riou rather isolated from the village. And then there was the prophecy, the marriage betrothal to the Sunagakure, and that he had been surviving assassins since he was three.

Thus, it was no wonder that the boy was not connected to the village in any meaningful way besides what indoctrination that ROOT and the Sannin had provided. Forming meaningful relationships and instilling some fragment of the will of fire in the young boy was the first priority. Second, priority was guarding Naruto against any attempts of other hidden villages, particularly Iwa and Kumo, in either killing him outright or enticing him to their side. Everything else, including training him, were relegated to the bottom for the moment.

Haruno Sakura, the iron badger's granddaughter, stood off analyzing him and Obito with obvious effort. She was the only one that wasn't involved in the fighting yesterday, merely watching in boredom as her betrothed and new teammate tried their best to murder each other. Which of course, clashed with the dossier that he had received that spoke to a quiet, polite and shy twelve year old girl with a wide variety of skills. Ideal to temper and be the voice of reason for the two.

Haruno Sakura was probably the hardest of the students, if for no other reason, she was even more duplicitous than Naruto. Haruno family's kekkei genkai, the shadow spirit, was an omni-potent defense against mind rips and genjutsu. Making the family Konohagakure's secret keepers in charge of securing ancient knowledge and village secrets from all those who attempt to uncover them. And according to the iron badger, Sakura supposedly had a more powerful version of kekkei genkai than himself.

The problem was that the girl seemed to be resisting using it for whatever reason. Though, Kakashi could guess any number of factors. Her betrothal and the shitshtorm that involved that. The genetic experimentation that the Haruno family participated in her birth. Were but a few factors that Kakashi could name off the top of his head.

She otherwise had excellent skills in a wide variety of other skills; barrier jutsu, med jutsu, perfect chakra control, kyūdōka, summoning jutsu, and perfect eidetic memory that made her first in her class in academic prowess. Her teamwork scores when matched with ad-hoc free form combat teams were excellent. Effectively making her an ideal support kunoichi. Brushing up her taijutsu and other combat skills was the first priority. And while the iron badger had instilled in him and Obito to find a way to release the kekkei genkai, Kakashi wasn't going to sweat it.

"That you're always late." Sasuke deadpanned.

"That you tell lame ass excuses." Sakura followed up.

"That you don't have a dic…", Naruto began before Obito punted him across the head. Causing Naruto to pounce across the training field until he slammed into a tree. "WHAT the HELL was that for?"

"Teaching you some manners, midget." Obito said, body flickering in front of the kneeling Naruto.

"Like hell, scar face!" Naruto roared, as he tried to punch and subsequently was walloped by Obito with one arm. When the dust cloud settled, Naruto was prone and Obito was sitting on him triumphantly.

"Now that we got that out of the way, let's get some introductions out of the way." Kakashi pointed at himself. "Special Jonin Captain Nohara Kakashi, your sensei and team leader. And that…" Kakashi pointed toward Obito, "is my attack dog."

Obito woofed.

The genin stared at Obito and then nervously looked back at Kakashi. Kakashi continued as if this was the most normal thing in the world. "Usually at this stage, you genin would introduce each other and the like, and then have a series of tests to prove that you would be able to work together as a team."

Kakashi cast a gaze at each of his new genin, "I think yesterday's fight demonstrated that you failed utterly, and completely in that regard."

Kakashi continued, as his genin trembled at the news. "It is why I have recommended to the Hokage and his supreme military council that henceforth that you should be stripped of your rank and be restricted to the village until the Hokage sees fit to determine an adequate solution to your behavior."

Genin had varied reactions to this news. Naruto, who was still being sat upon by Obito, tried to groan and get up. Protesting and throwing every little excuse under the sun until Obito used a modified hyuga technique to temporarily paralyze the jinchuuriki. Sasuke glared and looked away, his face a contrast of emotions. Rage, sorrow, denial, to name a few. While Sasuke fingered his kunai and shuriken as if expecting a fight. Sakura, well she was the most surprising in his mind.

She seemed to sway in the wind as if hit by a wall of air, until she straightened and let out a shrill laugh. Her pupils narrowed down to pinpricks and she smiled malevolently at Naruto before casting pure undeterred killing intent toward Kakashi. The air itself became so thick with malevolent chakra that Kakashi, momentarily, had trouble breathing the miasma that surrounded him. Kakashi even took a step back, arming himself and preparing for a fight that never came.

"Sakura?" Kakashi tentatively asked.

"Sakura is a bit occupied at the moment." Not-Sakura said in a tone of casual violence.

"Ok…" Kakashi said, watching the Not-Sakura or perhaps shadow Sakura go through the motions of various exercise stretches as she made funny looks at Naruto. Who looked positively frightened at the transformation. Sasuke was very still. Obito sent an oblique sign, asking permission to secure Sakura. Kakashi signed, negative.

"Oh, you can continue your speech. I mean, it's fairly obvious, if we are standing here in front of you, it's that your recommendation was turned down." Shadow Sakura said, going through a series of calisthenics.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but relaxed as the killing intent dissipated. "... true, the hokage didn't agree with my assessment, and has decided on an alternate course. Until the damage is fixed and refurbished; thirty percent of any mission rewards, stipends, tips, salaries and bonuses you receive will be garnished. And the Hokage has given us the privilege, until a time he sees fit to revoke such, full judicial discretionary punishments except for restricted service or expulsion from the Shinobi corps."

"So, as your first 'punishment' and part of your first mission will be by yourself, with whatever supplies that you have on hand or can obtain through whatever means journey to the Land of Waves at designated coordinates." Kakashi intoned, throwing a wad of an oilcloth map to his genin.

"We'll of course, be watching you cute genin as you cross the Land of Fire. Noting your teamwork, fighting and survival capabilities. If we find any of that lacking, we'll haul you home and have you do F ranked missions till Naruto voice breaks." Kakashi said casually watching the color drain out of two out of three genin.

"You have only one chance. Try not to fuck it up, or do anything stupid. Though, considering who I'm talking to maybe I should save my breath. Anyway, bye bye my cute genin!" Kakashi waved playfully at his two stunned Genin, before he and Obito body flickered out of view. Coming to rest on a clump of branches.

"You know, Kashi-chan, Hokage only garnished twenty percent of their wages, what are you doing with the ten percent?" Obito asked playfully. Eager to know what his partner had planned.

"I was thinking first we would get a box set of…" Kakashi laid out his plans to Obito, as he watched with half of a mind as two of his genin freaked the fuck out and the other looked on with an air of casual violence.

/* If you haven't guessed by now, my naruto fic is a crossover of a very obscure dark fantasy ttrpg and the narutoverse with a spin of my demented ideas. If you can guess which ttrpg it is, it will give some of the key elements of Ki's power and capabilities that I've been hinting at. She is a blackhole after all, all that power has to go somewhere. :) Besides that I've fun making an absolutely messy situation with whoever flicks a match in the powder keg that is the upcoming war of the wave arc.

As regards to updates, I can't say when I'll update this since I'm also 100,000 words into a novel I'm writing that can be best described as a gender bender princess diaries meets Game of Thrones and Realpolitik. Then I've also been busy with some other real life commitments that really restricts my time to writing only two hours a day. And I'm slow writier. So, who knows really when I'll be able to get update. Thanks again to anyone that reads this crap. I'm slowly improving day by day. */