Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1.
AN: 2 out of 4.
In the days following Team 7's return from the Land of Waves, word had spread of Naruto's conquest of the entire island country and his new ownership of Gato's numerous businesses, both those deemed legal by most and those deemed illegal by others. The missions that had been regularly handed out to the Hidden Villages had swiftly come to an end with a notice being sent out: 'A great number of recent internal changes to the company has brought with them the need to temporarily bring all shipping and trading to a halt'. The number of complaints that the Hokage had been bombarded with had been high but truly only four stood out among the stack after stack of soon to be tinder. He also considered giving them to the Konoha Aviary as well.
The Mizukage had spoken of the strangeness of the sudden shift in ownership.
The Raikage had spoken of the necessity of keeping a large Shinobi force occupied.
The Tsuchikage had spoken of the fragile state of some villages compared to others.
The Kazekge had spoken of the alliance between villages, the necessity for the spread of information.
The four leaders of the other Hidden Villages had aired their grievances to him with terse responses. All could be summed up the same way in the end:
Things were to return to normal or else.
The aged Hokage had not sent a reply as of yet. He had just finished reading the final report from Team 7, Kakashi's, and now sat in quiet contemplation once he had burned it to ash. The Jonin had been very thorough and had left no details out. The fact that Zabuza Momoichi was currently employed by Naruto spoke volumes of the amount of money Gato had. Momoichi was a very expensive mercenary to hire to kill a simple bridge builder. The fact he was still hired spoke of how much money Naruto had taken from the dead man. His squad of powerful Kekkei Genkai wielders from the purges in Mizu no Kuni he had trained to become brutal assassins had also found employment under the umbrella of the Genin's recent hiring of their teacher. Hiruzen was simply glad that they remained in Nami no Kuni for the moment. He could breathe easier knowing his problems were limited to the immediate and not far and distant ones.
All he had to deal with was the fact that Naruto had conquered an entire island country and also controlled one of the largest corporations in the world. The blonde had listed his new assets in his reports and ANBU were currently compiling a number of files related to each of them into a comprehensive report for him.
It would take a week at minimum.
"This is going to be a long few weeks."
"I hope you haven't forgotten that the Chunin Exams are approaching, Hiruzen."
"I haven't."
Danzo Shimura sat across from him. The two elderly Shinobi had been working in silence for the most part once the former council member had been called to Hiruzen's office and had offered him several scrolls which had already been read through. All of them concerned Naruto's Uzumaki Empire from the initial actions taken in Konoha, such as taking over the Uchiha District, the movement of his Second and Fourth Cohorts in the ruins of Uzushiogakure and lands nearby, and Third Cohort's actions in Nami no Kuni as they rapidly grew into another Orange Legion for Naruto to command, and the continued near eruption of Chakra from Naruto for the past few days since his return and near complete separation from other Shinobi thanks to his First Cohort and Praetorians.
On his last count, eight sensors that had been responsible for the barrier around Konoha had been sent to the hospital with heavy migraines. If this continued the way it was, he wouldn't have many more left and that would pose too many problems to think about. Danzo had handled the most recent replacements with several suggestions and nothing out of the norm had come out of the sensor department for the past few hours. Hiruzen was glad his fellow Shinobi had solved the potential security disaster.
"You will need additional security depending on how many teams are sent to the exams by the competing villages and how many manage to reach the finals." Danzo spoke and near the wall the white coated ANBU Commander nodded. "Some will need to be visible to the untrained eye and others invisible to even the most watchful of eyes."
"It'll be done."
"Konoha's Shinobi will need to be on guard and cautious to act with so many foreign Shinobi entering the village." The Jonin Commander, Shikaku Nara, spoke up from his position near the window, his shadow filling the room as several scrolls were held suspended in hands of shadow. "Kakashi will also need to learn to rein that kid in if he's going to have his team compete in the Chunin Exams. We don't need an international incident because he decided to talk big to any of the other Kage that'll be showing up."
"That's unlikely to happen." Danzo spoke before Hiruzen did. The darker side of their world almost broke into laughter and gained curious, even fearful, looks from those in the office. "Naruto Uzumaki continues to prove that he is not only unpredictable but shows he will soon be a powerful force in our world. His creation of his army, completely unknown to all of us until the day of Hatake's test, shows precisely how dangerous he can become. We've all read the reports on what his Orange Legion really is, that should be enough to tell us all what he is capable of."
"Indeed." Hiruzen's voice was grave as he looked towards one of the scrolls on his desk. "You've all destroyed the information, correct?"
"Hai." All three spoke together. All three knew how dangerous the information they had discovered truly was. It was almost insulting to believe any of them had allowed the information to fall into the wrong hands, to even exist for longer than it took to read and recover from their shock at what it contained.
"Good. Less detailed copies have been circulated to the ANBU and Jonin of the village but, as you all know, Kakashi Hatake has been granted access to all information and he has been made the one responsible for compiling future reports once the ANBU were discovered." Hiruzen's words were met with a series of nods.
"What of Hatake's friends? They could possible discover the truth behind the boy's army and they may spread it, intentional or otherwise. They should be dealt with, at least two of them." Danzo spoke and the ANBU Commander responded.
"An old friend will be responsible for reports on the three. The reports I receive will decide what happens to them." Beneath his mask, the ANBU Commander's eyes drifted to the shadows. "Understood?"
Silence was his answer but he did not expect vocal acknowledgement more than he expected them to appear from the shadows. The shadows he observed with unseen eyes had become thinner, had gained a lighter darkness to them. The ANBU that had once been stationed inside had vanished.
"You shouldn't doubt Kakashi." Hiruzen set the scroll down as it began to burn away. "He can, and still does, surprise me with his actions. I'm sure he can handle this situation without any of us intervening. He is a man with a plan for nearly everything."
In Training Ground 7…
"I do not have a plan for this." Kakashi spoke mainly to himself as he hung upside down from a tree branch. He was currently in such a position because he had found reason to silently observe the three Genin that were his responsibility until they were promoted to Chunin or, as unlikely as it was, died. His Sharingan eye was unveiled as he continued to look over one of the three Genin that had been assigned to him and he tried to put his natural genius to use to figure out why bad things kept happening to him.
All he ever did was be hours late to anything not deemed urgent. Sure, he had made plenty of people angry and make them swear vengeance on him, but he had never done anything to deserve the headache one of his students had turned out to be. His Sharingan focused on the blonde in front of him for several seconds before he realized he could come up with no answer to even one of his questions.
Naruto Uzumaki's Chakra continued to flow out of him with no end in sight and had, within an hour, saturated the entirety of the training ground they resided in. The Jonin sighed as he moved one hand and readjusted the headband that denoted his allegiance to Konohagakure to once again cover it. He stopped the flow of Chakra to his feet and landed silently in a crouch on the forest floor before he vanished in a cloud of smoke.
"Hey." He silently appeared before the three Genin with a single hand rose in greeting before it fell down to his side. "You three are still alive."
"The Orange Legion does not falter at any challenge." Naruto's grin never wavered as he rested a hand on the hilt of his blade. "You should do well to remember that Silver Fang for the day will come that you shall be the challenge my glorious Legion shall not only face but overcome."
"Don't you mean Legions now?" Kakashi's comment was met with loud boisterous laughter from the Uzumaki that he had foolishly made his responsibility when he passed him. Despite the fact, he nodded along to the message he took from the laughter. "Ah, so you don't count your expanded forces yet?"
"You are correct Silver Fang." Naruto's laughter was replaced by chuckling before it was gone entirely before he rose a clenched fist into the air. "The Orange Legion's Third Cohort may expand to greater and greater heights the more time passes but it is not yet deserving of the title of Legion! It is especially not deserving of a title of one of my Orange Legions but time shall show it deserves such a name! Until then, it is still nothing but a Cohort of my great Orange Legion! Once the time comes to pass, I shall command Legions but for now I still command only a single glorious Orange Legion of my mighty Uzumaki Empire!" Blue eyes shined with delight at what the future held, the power he would hold, the force of arms that fewer and fewer would ever be able to stand against. "Soon none will be able to muster arms against my mighty and glorious Uzumaki Empire and on that day the world shall tremble and rejoice at my absolute rule!"
"Alright then." Kakashi felt the need to turn to Sakura for some sanity amongst the team as Sasuke had turned and saluted Naruto with the universal one used by his clones. "Sakura, I'm going to work on your Chakra Control while those two spar."
"You shall not Silver Fang!" Naruto's blade was suddenly drawn and the idle Praetorians erupted into action. They formed a circle around the two and blades were drawn and shields were pointed towards the Jonin that stood next to their Praetor. "You shall not have the time of Sakura-chan today! My centurions of my glorious Legion shall train her in the swordplay she seems so eager in making use of!" He turned his eyes to her but never fully turned them away from the lax Kakashi for more than a few seconds so blue shined from the corners of his eyes. He grinned at her and ignored the almost fear that shined in her green eyes. "Sakura-chan shall learn to fight in the way of my great Uzumaki Empire."
"No." Kakashi spoke the simple word and didn't move as the ring of swords and steel closed once the clones took a step inward and pointed to Naruto and Sasuke. "I let you two spar all the time because you don't need much in the way of training since you've both got tree walking and water walking down in the past few days. Sakura, on the other hand, needs personal training because her control is abysmal. It's not saying much since most of her skills are abysmal from what I've seen but it's what I'm focusing on today and I'll hopefully see some progress from her." At his words, the pink haired Genin seemed to deflate and the circle around the two Shinobi drew tighter. "You two can learn Kenjutsu and some Ninjutsu from me later but for now you'll be happy with the leniency I'm giving you while I train your teammate up to standard. You two are not to leave the training grounds by the way. Take that as an order from your Jonin sensei."
Kakashi swore the clones around him actually growled then. He ignored them and stepped out the circle to grab hold of a startled Sakura's shoulder.
"Besides, Sakura's my favorite out of you three." He vanished and Naruto allowed his humor to vanish. His teeth were bared to the world as his lips curled with fury. He wanted to do nothing more than strike down the one he had deemed Silver Fang but just as swiftly as his anger had appeared it vanished.
"Centurion, keep watch on Silver Fang from a distance." Sasuke pressed a finger to his ear and issued the order to the far away centurion, one who had been issued surveillance equipment his century had dispersed throughout the forest. "Do not lose sight of him."
"He will not escape the sights of my men." The centurion answered back and the connection was cancelled as Sasuke drew his finger away from his ear.
"The eyes of the Legion will one day not fall to the Genjtusu of Shinobi but until that day comes we must remain reliant on surveillance equipment." Naruto spoke the words seemingly to himself before he turned to the Legate of his Orange Legion. "Legate, I expect a truly ripe fruit from the labors of your training one of these days."
"I shall aim to provide a bountiful harvest on that day Praetor." Sasuke raised a fist over his armored heart as he bowed his head to the ruler of the Uzumaki Empire. "Now," His head shot up and his Sharingan came to life, his eyes shining with a red light. ", what do you say to a spar Praetor?"
His answer was the drawing of a blade from his side and he grinned as the Uchiha did the same. Both held out their hands and their shields appeared from recent additions to their armor.
"I thought you would never ask."
The sound of steel meeting steel rung out as the two met in a clash, their faces split by battle hungry and bloodthirsty grins. They would not stop until a winner had been decided.
"This spot should be good." Kakashi had made two Shadow Clones the moment he had vanished with Sakura and thrown off the Orange Legion watchers he had seen setting up equipment across the forest. One clone had transformed into Sakura and the training they had come to expect had begun: Him hounding her as he ran her through beginner's Shurikenjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu with random trivia questions interspersed through it all.
"Kakashi-sensei, where are we?" Sakura had gotten rather good at not feeling nauseous from the truly insane speed Kakashi traveled at and looked around at the rocky and barren terrain around them.
"It's a place more out there. I'm borrowing it to train you." Kakashi put his hands in his pockets before turning to a massive rectangular rock more than double his height that was nearby and gestured towards it with his sandal clad foot. "Go on and smash this rock for me."
"What!" Sakura was shocked for a second, rightfully so, before a look from Kakashi calmed her down. He had perfected the ability to smile with his eye during his childhood and used it now. "You know I'm not super strong like Naruto and Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei. Isn't there something else I can do?"
"Just trust me on this one Sakura." Kakashi drew a hand out of his pocket and patted the nearby rock on the side from next to it. Sakura briefly looked from where he had just been standing to where he now was before sighing and walking over. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
"A-A-Alright then Kakashi-sensei. I need a second." She balled her hands into a fist and couldn't help but close her eyes as she drew it back with the rest of her body. Her entire body tensed for a moment before she threw all she had into the blow. Her mind was entirely focused on striking the rock and hopefully not breaking her hand in too many places to count.
"SHANNARO!"
'Let's see if I'm right.' His Sharingan eye was revealed to the world as he stepped back and took in the sight.
Her fist struck the rock. The rock shattered. A stunned Sakura nearly fell forward if he hadn't wrapped an arm around her waist and leapt into the air just in time. The ground rumbled for only a moment before it simply caved in, a jagged cavernous maw swallowing up the earth before it collapsed in on itself.
"What the hell!?" The airborne Genin in his arms could only scream at the sight below her before Kakashi landed on a rock spire farther away. He used his free hand to once again hide his Sharingan and took a moment to take in the destruction below him with his own eye.
"Yep, it looks like you have quite the ability." Kakashi sat her down on the narrow pillar and wasn't surprised when she easily held on, her Chakra instantly grabbing hold of the rock below her even if her arms shot out and wrapped around one of his own. "You're a natural at something that took the creator years to get the hang of."
"Please tell me what you're talking about." Sakura was in no danger of falling but she didn't seem to understand that was the case so he would show her.
He vanished from sight and appeared lower on the rock, his feet holding him sideways as he looked up at the pink haired Genin who closed her eyes as she awaited her fall to the earth. When nothing happened she tentatively opened one eye and met Kakashi's sole visible eye below her.
"Congratulations Sakura, you have the best Chakra Control I've ever seen." He gave her another eye smile.
She was a natural at tree walking and water walking was the same, a single step on the water was all it took to get it down. Her strength was at truly monstrous levels despite her rather poor physical condition because she was a natural at using the technique of a Sannin in Chakra Enhanced Strength. It was even better than Tsunade's version from what Kakashi had researched and what he had just seen.
He truly had a future monster of a Shinobi on his hands.
"Your mind is one of the sharpest I've ever seen, most Nara don't compare." He walked back up the spire and stepped upright.
Her intelligence was another thing that couldn't be ignored. She WAS smarter than most Nara Clan members and, an upside not many of them could boast about, was easily motivated judging from the rigor that she had pursued Sasuke with. Her mind was partly responsible for why she was able to have such phenomenal Chakra Control in the first place as it, in his theory at least, contributed to her just demonstrated strength. He would call it a monstrous thing.
"You're going to be great."
Tentatively, she let her own smile spread across her face as she looked down at her fist.
"Kakashi-sensei, can I ask a favor real quick?"
"What is it?"
"Can you turn around so I can change out of this stuff?" She gestured down to the armor dotting her form and Kakashi couldn't help but let his eye smile grow. "I've got a spare set of clothes sealed away."
"Just call if you need me." He vanished in a puff of smoke and settled down behind a boulder quite a distance away. He would give her plenty of privacy. He personally couldn't wait to see Naruto's expression when Sakura unveiled the fruits of her labors with him. She would quickly grow to outstrip both of them if she kept to her strengths.
Once he really began training her once the first rounds of the Exams were over with, she'll be a true monster that would put the legend Tsunade of the Sannin had garnered for herself to shame. She would perhaps rise to be a Goddess of Shinobi with her skills given enough time and training, two things he would make sure she received ample amounts of. He would only accept greatness from her.
'Unlike Naruto and Sasuke, you don't really know what you can do, do you Sakura?' An image of the Uchiha he taught came to mind. 'His Sharingan, Ninjutsu, Genjtusu, Taijutsu, and all those other skills he has makes you think you can't measure up but you're wrong.' He had come to learn the many weaknesses of Sasuke Uchiha in his time observing his three students. 'Arrogant, prideful, obsessed with vengeance, and more personality issues than most ANBU. He'll go mad one day.' Next came Naruto and the Jonin sighed. 'You're teammate is no better. Taijutsu, Chakra reserves that put most Kage, past and present, to shame, his mastery of that Kinjutsu of his, and his status as the Jinchuriki…you must really think he's far ahead of you. Both of them can do incredible things and you think you're hardly even average.'
He could imagine where Sakura saw herself then. She was constantly chasing after her two teammates, always running behind them and struggling to catch up. She had taken a backseat role in the Bell Test, relegated to a watcher by Naruto's army of clones, while Naruto and Sasuke retrieved the bells. During the time between then and the escort mission to Nami no Kuni, she was hardly able to breathe, let alone train, with all the Blossom Guards Naruto forced on her. She must have felt stifled, suffocated, like she was nothing but a piece of delicate glassware wrapped and put away for safekeeping. She must have felt like nothing more than a burden when compared to what Naruto and Sasuke could do.
She couldn't fight like them.
She couldn't move like them.
She didn't think like them.
'Being like those two is overrated, Sakura.' Kakashi almost chuckled at the thought. 'You have more potential than they ever did.' An image of the red and black eyes of the Uchiha came to his mind. 'Sasuke will never surpass his brother while relying on the same eyes he has.' An image of Naruto followed next, clad in the armor of his Orange Legion with a massive portion of his created force behind him. 'Naruto…we'll be lucky if he doesn't cause a war or two between the rest of the world and his Uzumaki Empire. He's a mad conqueror who'll hopefully burn out before he does anything too dangerous to either himself or the village.'
'But you?' The Genin appeared to his mind's eye. He leaned back against the boulder he waited behind and the corners of his mask moved up as he smiled. 'You've got nothing weighing you down or clouding your judgment. No fancy Dojutsu and no crazy Kinjutsu in your bag of tricks. All you can do is improve yourself or not advance at all. You'll earn every bit of strength through training, master every new technique with not only that scarily sharp mind of yours but determination to not give up until you get it done, and you'll become a legend after you gained those legendary skills because you fought for them every step of the way.'
Unbidden, an image of his self-proclaimed rival appeared next to Sakura. He had seen Gai go from a child regularly mocked to a legend among Shinobi with his raw skill and was glad he could call the man a friend. He was someone for people to actually look up to, someone who didn't fail the people that relied on him. Gai was someone who didn't need any special eyes or natural genius to achieve greatness as long as he could push himself past his limits day in and day out. Gai was someone that was the epitome of what hard work and the determination to never give up could give you.
He was far greater than the man called a prodigy since birth, a genius destined for great things. He was a true Shinobi of Konoha…unlike himself.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Her voice called out to him and he rose from where he had been resting.
"Over here!" He lifted a single hand and she came rushing over to him dressed like she was when Team 7 had still been unofficial. The armor of the Orange Legion laid discarded behind her, strewn across the ground among the already present rubble. Kakashi couldn't help but smile at the sight.
Yes. He was certain of it all now. Sakura would go farther than both Naruto and Sasuke no matter what. All that he had to do was make sure she understood the first step on the path to greatness was one that began far from it.
It would be painful.
It would be torture.
She would probably grow to hate him for putting her through it all but greatness wasn't obtained without cost.
'I'm definitely going to make you a legend, Sakura.' The Copy Ninja smiled beneath his mask.
AN: Well, that happened. Make of it what you will. Enjoy the next two or don't.